


Infected

by Lydinya



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Implied Kanan/Mari, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lydinya/pseuds/Lydinya
Summary: Case: 4,082,718,432. Patient Name: Watanabe You. Survival Rate: Unknown.
Relationships: Sakurauchi Riko/Watanabe You
Comments: 87
Kudos: 94





	1. You and I

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is going to be my first YouRiko multi-chapter I bring to light. I came up with this one day on twitter and I couldn't stop myself from planning an entire story out. Either way, I hope you enjoy it. I did while writing it.

April 8th, 2026:

Day 9. It’s been 9 days since You has turned into one of those ‘things’. I lost track of when this entire pandemic started, those days don’t really matter anymore anyways. You is on a limited schedule so I haven’t exactly been thinking about anything else but that. I feel as if I’m losing her, slowly but surely. It’s just getting worse with the virus eating away at the human side of her. While I keep giving her doses of uncontaminated blood, I feel as if it isn’t exactly helping. You won’t believe how difficult that was at first, with her thrashing around trying to snap at me. It was frightening to see her look at me, but not truly see me. Sorry if that doesn’t make sense, I don’t know how to explain myself very well. You was always the good one at expressing herself... Anyways, I’ve tested trial two on her already three days ago. As per my last entries, trial one failed. I had high hopes for it when I studied it, but then again I was in dire need to just give her anything that might help. Trial two however showed results, while she can’t exactly talk or really do anything human, she has learned to open doors, something one of the infected have not been able to yet. She can also eat regular food, though she highly prefers meat. It’s hard to get her to even look at anything else. That has definitely put a strain on me since my hunting skills were never really… up to par compared to You’s. Oh, I almost forgot! She also can respond to her name and will occasionally listen to me! Or at least, I think she’s listening. She’s in an almost puppy-like state at the moment, she sees me but she hasn’t broken through to her true self yet. I have high hopes for trial three as I know I can find the missing piece. I just need more time. But, we don’t really have that now do we. Guess there won’t be a lot of sleep in my future...

Riko put down her pencil as she rubbed her hands over her face. A heavy sigh filled the room as she tried to compose herself.

All of her journal entries had been like that recently, entirely studying You rather than actually doing her job and creating more formulas to test. It was getting quite tiresome. Riko just wanted things to be how they were before, when You would drag her from her work to go to bed every night. Now, she was exhausted every morning, but she couldn’t go to sleep. Not when she had the same recurring nightmare every night and the same reality every day.

It was as if there was a record playing in her head over and over again of that ill fated day. Riko didn’t want to remember it, the look on You’s face when they both realized that was it. It was the end of their journey together. As much as she tried staying up into the depths of the night with her research, the memories always reared their ugly heads into her dreams.

* * *

The sound of glass breaking echoed in the parking lot. You stood by the now shattered door, taking a look around the area she was in. 

She waited a moment for anything that might have heard what was happening within the vicinity. As the coast was clear, You looked across the parking lot, giving a quick salute. Peeking up from the bushes, Riko saw her cue. She glanced around at her surroundings, taking note of its emptiness, before scurrying towards You while holding her revolver close to her. 

It was almost like a system between the two, You did the grunt work while Riko kept a look out for any stragglers that might be nearby. 

Of course, Riko could do most of the things You could as the young sailor actually taught her nearly everything she knew, just in case she were to ever be in trouble. However, Riko just preferred for You to do it all. She didn’t have the stamina to keep up, as after one outing Riko was ready to call it a week. Plus, it was almost as if Riko had a protector to keep her safe.

With Riko’s rushing towards You, it was the sailor’s turn to keep lookout. You didn’t like putting her guard down, as she knew how easily something could be taken in the blink of an eye in this world.

No words were said between one another as they both stepped into the hospital. Riko kept her revolver close to her chest while peeking behind them to make sure no one was following. You was a couple steps ahead, guiding them both, making sure every corner was safe. 

Riko wasn’t one to really use any of her weapons, in fact her revolver was fully loaded at all times. It was more for safe-keeping though rather than actual use. If You were ever in trouble, Riko was sure to only handle it then. You did teach her to use it properly, Riko just preferred to be the one who gathered bullets for You rather than herself. 

While there were no more morals in a post apocalyptic world, Riko still held onto the promises she made when she got her first job at the hospital. She didn’t ever want to harm another human, only help them. Although, if they wanted to murder her, there were a few exceptions then. 

For You though, since she studied marine biology, she didn’t have any trouble clearing a path.

Riko had actually only ever gotten into one altercation with other non-infected humans, but it was only when You was cornered. Even then the red-haired girl still never pulled out her gun. Instead Riko always used a blade that You hand-crafted herself. 

It was gifted to Riko on her birthday, as it fell within the first couple months of the apocalypse. Though it wasn’t a gift the red-haired girl would’ve liked to have in general, she still kept it by her side, as it was made with good intentions. With a little music note carved into the base, it was all Riko could ever need.

As the girls tracked their way further in, they headed towards the surgical center of the hospital. This had been their third, and largest, one they had visited. Most times the hospitals had already been ransacked, leading them to just wasting their resources on a couple bandages and disorganized medicine tablets.

Riko’s main reason for calling on the constant missions was because she needed more supplies to prove if her hypothesis was fact or fiction. 

She was using the same formula that was created for treating cancer patients via chemotherapy. She was sure there had to be a way it could be improved and used on only the infected cells that entered the bloodstream. If she could get the antibodies to attack properly, then the body could fight off the disease itself while possibly multiplying, thus restoring the person entirely. Of course the host would need to still have enough cells that stayed, well, human during the process. Many patients lost all traces of human restoration within a month, of course each person varied but that was the usual time frame. Riko had only found that out when the disease was brand new and she still had time to properly research and test the patients. Nowadays, everything was more of a guessing game.

Riko felt she was nearing a breakthrough, but the problem was with each test she ran out of more and more supplies. She knew she was on the verge of something though and it wouldn’t take much to convince You to head out with her when she showed her the results she had. Out of everyone, You believed in her the most. When everything was falling apart and she was told to pack up her things at work, You pushed her to keep her research going on her own. If anyone could find a cure, it had to be Riko.

As they entered the surgical floor, the girls slowly stepped around the debris left in the hospital halls. There was what seemed to be a lockdown before an entire evacuation, as the doors leading to each room were barricaded shut. You kept her words to herself as she could see bloodied hand prints streaked across a few of the glass windows, ruining their clear surface. She instead focused on what was up ahead, a large plastic hall leading to the backrooms. Both girls could only assume it was made for others to know it was a hazardous area. 

You peeked her head into the plastic door flaps, taking a quick glance around the hall before slowly walking in. The hall led them to the laboratory center, assumingly where all of the test results were placed after their surgeries were performed. The space was eerily quiet as the only steps that could be heard were from the shoes of You and Riko.

As they walked into more forgein territory, Riko now took the lead as she had more of an idea of where to go. They made their way to their destination, briefly looking to make sure no one was around and the bodies that were on the floor were actually dead. 

The only way to check for any signs of life was to watch the infected, as they still took in short rapid breaths, even while they slept.

A couple of the bodies looked questionable but before You could put them down for sure, Riko most times would put her hand on her shoulder, motioning for them to move on and not make any noise. Hospitals were mine fields for the infected, since once anyone began showing the first symptoms, they immediately turned themselves into the hospital's care, hoping they could be saved. Unfortunately, helping wasn’t in the hospital’s name during the peak of the pandemic. Riko knew the truth, considering she had worked up until the infection cases overtook Numazu entirely. 

Once admitted to the hospital, nurses would separate patients from their family, feeding them lies to tell them that their loved one was in critical condition and wouldn’t make it. That was only before the doctors slipped a dangerously high paralytic dosage into their IV, ensuring a peaceful death at the very least. While it worked in most cases, other times the patients were too far gone and the drug did nothing to them. That only led to harsh discoveries for the morgue workers when it was their turn to pick up the body.

Riko stopped in front of one of the large doors, knowing exactly where she was. It was the main storage area where the nurses would get the supplies needed for surgery. In it had the IVs, collection tubes, and just about everything Riko could ever need. Yet, as always, they were locked tight due to so many valuable things inside them. Riko only stood for a moment at the towering doors before stepping to the side, taking her pocket knife out to hand over to You. 

You took a hold of the knife before getting down on her knee to work her magic. Riko could feel her palms sweating as this was practically their last chance. It was the biggest hospital in Numazu, if they didn’t have what she needed, nowhere else would. 

With a small click, the door was open for them. You stood up, handing the pocket knife back to Riko, as she whispered for only them to hear,

“You ready?”

Riko nodded her head, placing her hand on You’s shoulder,

“Yeah, let’s do this.”

You stepped aside, letting Riko walk into the room first. As Riko pushed the door open, she took a glance around. 

The room looked as if it hadn’t been touched in years. Dust collected all over the counters while softly swaying in the wind as well. The door’s opening motion pushed wind in for probably the first time in years. 

You quickly dug into her backpack, pulling out a flashlight to help illuminate the room as Riko walked forward, already spotting something out of the ordinary. It didn’t take but a moment later for her to stop in her tracks and as You walked beside her, she too froze at the view in front of them.

As if frozen in time, there was a journal on the counter with scribbles all over it. Though it was a bit away, Riko recognized the chemical structures written all over the pages. Around the counter as well were fresh stacks of test tubes lined along the wall, labeled with what was last being tested from the previous person there. 

You and Riko looked at one another with a large smile encompassing their faces as it was just what they needed. Though they didn’t want to make noise, Riko lightly jumped up and down in her spot as You quietly giggled at the young girl's excitement. 

Riko scurried over, taking ahold of the journal as You brought the light alongside with her. All in it were forgeign words to You, but to Riko it was as if she had just gotten a cheat sheet. Some combinations she had thought to use were already written in the book as well as their results, meaning she wouldn’t have to waste supplies when she could just see what had positive impacts on the body and build along those.

Stuffing what she could in her bag, Riko took the journal as well as just about anything that looked needed around the counters. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to risk coming back now that they had opened the doors for all.

Wrapping the tubes in the spare clothes she had brought along, Riko safely secured her, as well as You’s, bag for travel. With both of them ready, Riko turned to You, handing her back her backpack. Before she could put it on though, Riko motioned for her to carry it as she knew if something were to happen she wouldn’t want the shards of glass to puncture their skin. 

Though they knew they couldn’t stay any longer, Riko quickly put her hand on You’s shoulder to stop her from moving, earning a confused look from the sailor. Swiftly standing on her tippy toes, Riko kissed You, receiving a heated blush from the grey-haired girl,

“What was that?”

Riko shrugged her shoulders as she swayed on her feet as if she were a little kid, 

“Just a thank you for coming along.”

You looked down at her hands, as she was a bit embarrassed to look at Riko in the moment. Their moment couldn’t last a second longer though as they could already hear groaning down the hall,

“Don’t thank me yet, Riko.”

Turning, You withdrew her gun from her holster as she headed for the door. Riko followed behind, quickly looking around the room to make sure she had taken everything they could need before jogging alongside You. 

As they slowly made their way out of the laboratory floor, You stopped Riko before the plastic hall. She could hear moving in the walls, followed by low groans. Stepping forward slowly, Riko intently watched You as she tried to gain the upper hand against the infected man up ahead. They were great at listening so You knew she had to move slowly.

The red-haired girl watched, heart thumping in her ears, as You took each step painfully slow. She had the tactical method of catching the zombies off guard, taking them to the ground, before slowly suffocating them. It was a long process, but it had worked so far so who was Riko to try and mess with the formula now.

Riko couldn’t watch You’s slow journey for long though, as the thumps of her heart beating in her ear drums were soon replaced with rapid breathing, earning a shiver down her spine. Almost as if she were in a horror movie, as the red-haired girl turned, a pair of hands gripped onto her shoulders as a woman in a surgical gown took Riko down to the floor. Yelling out in shock, Riko fell to the ground, letting everything in her hands land beside her. You turned back as she heard the screams,

“Riko! Hold on!”

Riko had the woman gripped by the shoulders, keeping her a safe distance from her. The infected woman’s jaws snapped open and close, attempting to bite at the young girl. 

Riko hated seeing the zombies up close, their oddly pale skin and soulless eyes haunted her dreams. The worst part was the only color they ever got to vary up their skin was the black blood that coursed through their veins, protruding out as they screamed into the faces of their prey.

With the woman thrashing all over Riko, she was beginning to lose her grip,

“Hurry You!”

It didn’t take a moment longer for the woman to be off of her as You had taken her to the ground. Riko turned over, putting her hand over her chest to steady her uneven breath. With You on top of the woman now, she pinned her arms down with her legs as she placed one hand around her neck. You raised her free fist to strike the woman but before she could, she felt another body latch onto her back.

Riko looked up from her spot to see two zombies rather than the just one before. It seemed the man You was going to handle heard the noises and went straight for the young sailor. 

You attempted to grip him in any way she could by switching between his shirt and hair. She tried to get him away from her, but with his rabid movement it became quite the challenge. 

Riko could see You wasn’t able to handle two zombies on her own. Standing up from her spot, Riko ran toward You as she quickly pulled out her pocket knife. She couldn’t see exactly what was happening as You’s hands were moving all over the unstable zombie. As Riko approached closer, she quickly yelled out,

“Move your hands!”

You didn’t need to hear that twice, her hands instead went to the woman underneath her, slamming onto the woman's neck. As You pushed down hard enough to snap her windpipe, Riko grabbed at the man's hair, pulling his face away from You as she dug her knife into the flesh of his neck. She was sure to hear the cracks of bone as she vertically slit through him.

With his blood pouring everywhere, Riko tossed the now limp body off of You. Though his body fell to the floor, You stayed with her hands on the woman's broken neck. Riko could see the man's blood all over You’s back, drenching her shirt as if trailed further down. Kneeling beside her, Riko lightly attempted to dust off the blood,

“Hey, you okay?”

The grip You had on the woman stayed, though it was almost as if she were just resting her hands on her. It took a moment before the young sailor blinked, finally registering Riko’s words. Shakily lifted her hands, You cleared her throat,

“Y-Yeah, I’m good.”

Riko looked up as You attempted to quickly stand so they could continue their journey, but as she put her weight on one leg, the grey-haired girl found herself back on the floor.

“You!”

Riko quickly rolled You on her back, getting a look at her. You’s eyebrows were furrowed in pain as she closed her arms around herself, as if attempting to curl into a ball.

Riko grabbed at You’s upper body, dragging her towards the wall to prop her up. 

As she leaned back, the young sailor couldn’t even keep her head up, letting it drop down to her chest. 

Her face was flushed red with her breathing all over the place. Placing her hands on her face, Riko tried to get You to focus on her,

“You, tell me what’s going on. Did you get bit? Can you breathe?”

You couldn’t even keep her eyes open as she tried to listen to Riko’s words,

“I-I don’t know, I just don’t really f-feel good right now.”

Riko quickly began to tap against You’s body, attempting to search for the culprit, 

“Tell me if anything hurts.”

As she started on her legs, Riko watched You’s face for any reactions she might have, but she looked in pain with just about every touch. Her hands moved up, tapping from her thighs to her hands, before she began to reach her upper body. As Riko placed her hands on You’s shoulders where all of the blood was, the young sailor yelped out in pain. Wasting no time, Riko gripped the hole that was in the shirt, tearing the cloth apart to get a better look at what she was dealing with. 

Holding her breath, Riko could see a deep imprinted bite into You’s shoulder. The man must’ve bit a vein as You’s human blood was beginning to overpower the zombies. 

Riko could feel her throat close in pain she applied pressure towards the wound,

“It’s okay, You. It’s no big deal, I-I can fix this.”

From the way Riko sounded, You knew what was to happen next. She had watched the process so many times with so many people in her life. She knew she had but a few minutes left before she were to fall unconscious. Once then she either had two chances. She could turn into one of those monsters or she could die peacefully in her sleep. 

Both would mean leaving Riko.

Whichever it was, she didn’t want her last sight of Riko to be like this. She had always imagined them growing old together, starting a family, and maybe even finally getting that dog they always talked about. Now, while she did have her regrets, at least in a way she did have a lot of time well spent with her love.

You placed her hand against Riko’s, softly trying to get her to stop applying pressure and to just hold her,

“Hey, it’s okay.”

You repeated the words the young girl had told her, Riko however had fear written across her face as she couldn’t give up now.

“N-No, I can’t let you die!”

Riko yelled back and as her voice cracked, a tear carefully slid down her face. You could only smile at her, always trying so hard, even when there was no hope left.

“Riko, just stop. I’m done, this is it for me.”

Those words stung harsher than Riko would’ve liked.

“No, I’m not ready, you can’t just leave me. Not now, not when we're so close to the end.”

The red-haired girl finally let You take a hold of her hands, as she too was feeling herself give up. Though they were covered in blood, You intertwined their fingers like it was just a normal day for them. 

Riko leaned forward, resting her head on You’s chest as sobs racked through her body. You’s breathing was becoming softer as Riko laid close enough to listen.

“Can you do me a favor?”

A small sniffle came from the red-haired girl,

“Anything.”

“Don’t let me become one of those things. Please, just end everything here and finish this out on your own.”

Riko quickly backed away, placing her hands on You’s shoulders, almost offended that she could think Riko would ever do such a thing,

“I can’t do that, You. W-What if you make it?”

You dryly laughed, shaking her head side to side. It was painfully obvious You wasn’t immune, but she didn’t have much time to keep up an argument. She couldn’t let those be her last words to her love. Instead, You softly used what remaining dwindling strength she had left to lift her hand, pushing Riko’s fallen hair from her face,

“I’m sorry, it was just a suggestion. But, I have to go now. Just, don’t give up then, okay? Promise me that? If anyone can find a cure, I know it’s you.”

Riko couldn’t even speak as she just nodded her head. With one hand she grabbed at You’s limp fingers, locking their pinkies together. Riko used her free hand to draw You’s face in, bringing them together for one last kiss. Blood streaked across You’s face, but she didn’t mind as she couldn’t exactly feel anything except the lips that were on hers. 

While every kiss before tasted sweet, today’s was a bit too salty for Riko’s liking. 

The red-haired girl laid herself back on You’s chest, attempting to mask her sobs as to not hurt You with her moving. 

Every ounce of her body hurt. It was almost as if Riko’s heart was actually physically breaking in two. However, she had to tell You one last thing. In what felt like the most painful sentence in her life, Riko whispered out one last time,

“I love you.”

You closed her eyes, finally letting her own tears fall, as she felt Riko‘a unsteady breath against her. It was a reality that was coming from a mile away, she didn’t know why it hurt so bad. 

Forcing her last breath out, You whispered back,

“I love you more.”

Those final words echoed in Riko’s head. She didn’t know how her heart could continue to keep working after that moment. Perhaps it was the strength You had left in the world that powered her. 

By the time Riko could remember coming to, the halls of the hospital were no longer lit up by the sunlight, but rather nightfall had reared its head with heavy rain to accompany it. 

Riko could recall seeing a flash of You’s motionless body, unaffected by the thundering booms of lighting striking nearby. It was so foreign to see her not cuddled next to her with each strike.

To see her love look so weak in that moment struck Riko in ways she didn’t know. It didn’t even take a second thought for her to have to protect her. 

Riko took You, carrying her comatose body, as well as the samples she had come for, on her back. Though it was hard to get You onto her, once she was situated, Riko thought of nothing but home. She knew they would be okay once they got there. 

Along the way of their journey, Riko kept speaking to You, letting her know she was going to be safe. Luckily, all of the noise she was making was masked by the heavy rainfall surrounding her. And though her back hurt from You’s weight, Riko couldn’t stop now. You wouldn’t stop until she had nothing left inside of her.

Riko didn’t even check how long it had taken her to get home or if anyone had followed her, instead she just stumbled into their hideout at the aquarium, drenched from head to toe as dirt tracked in alongside her. Riko quickly shut the door with her foot as she made her way to the first place she could think of, the walrus exhibit. The animals had long been cleared out, leaving a wide empty space for Riko to begin her work.

Riko tried her best to be careful with You as she laid her down, but she knew she was on limited time.

With shaking hands, Riko patched together You’s shoulder. The bite had torn it’s way into the muscle, nearly taking an entire chunk out of her. Riko could see You flinching in pain over the cleaning process, giving her hope that her nervous system would stay intact.

Riko spent her entire night running around their aquarium home, pulling everything she could from medical to cleaning supplies.

You’s body was burning with a fever as it was attempting to release any and all fluids it had. That called for a whole lot of cleaning duty on Riko’s end. 

Though she didn’t want to cover You up, fearing she might cause her to have a stroke with overheating, Riko also knew if the young sailor made it that it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight. There was a chance the now infected You could carry over the same strength regular You had. 

Rather than taking her chances, instead, Riko went for two things. One being a cone head, used on the animals, to keep her from biting and the other was something that You had long hidden away, far too embarrassed at her past self’s part time job at the aquarium. 

After searching high and low, Riko finally found it in an empty storage closet. The uchicchi outfit You had sworn up and down she threw out when they had first settled into the aquarium. With a quick smile, Riko grabbed the outfit as she ran back toward the sleeping You. After watching so many people turn at the hospital she had previously worked at, she knew she would have but a couple more hours before You woke up. Their comatose state could only last so long before all hell broke loose.

With pain and lots of willpower, Riko managed to fit You into the uchicchi costume. 

She was taller than when she was a teenager, but You still managed to not awkwardly poke out. 

There was but one last touch, the head. Riko debated on putting the mask back on but she wasn’t sure how You could function with it. When they were younger, You hated the head piece. The young sailor at the time preferred to run around with the mask off, as seeing people face to face made her happy. 

Zombie or not, Riko didn’t want to torture You with that, instead she placed the cone-head around You’s neck. 

With everything settled, Riko had fully safety proofed You. Ensuring she couldn’t bite anyone with the cone and her costume took out the possibility of scratching others. 

With a glance at her watch, she was out of time. Taking everything she had, Riko began making her way out of the room. She had left the blankets as well as random items that had previously laid around the place for the grey-haired girl. 

As much as she wanted to be there by You’s side, making sure she woke up to a familiar face, she also knew what chaos was about to happen.

Riko didn’t leave entirely though, as she watched her through the clear glass that separated the audience from the entertainer. 

Riko couldn’t be sure exactly when You would wake up, if she still would. All she could do was wait.

This lead to Riko staying awake for far longer than she had before, all for the efforts of seeing You open her eyes once more. Riko kept telling herself it was for research purposes but deep down she needed to know You wasn’t going to die in her sleep. 

When the grey-haired girl opened her eyes though, she only stared at the ceiling, not making a move to get up. It was almost as if she didn’t have a purpose in that moment. In fact, if it weren’t for the rapid breathing, Riko would’ve thought she had died.

Tapping on the glass, Riko attempted to get You’s attention. Which that she definitely did. 

You’s head snapped towards the sound and soon enough, the squeaks of her shoes filled the containment center. You ran towards the noise but was cut short as the glass between them stopped her.

Riko stared at the person who was once You. 

The girl who once had a smile brighter than the sun, skin kissed by the gods, and eyes that shined like the ocean just wasn’t the same.

Now it was just a body, lifeless and pale, attempting to break through the glass in a fury of anger. 

Riko placed her hand on the barrier, swallowing her tears back as You kept scratching at her while yelling out in frustration.

Slowly walking back to her room, the young girl was beyond exhausted as she fell to her bed. 

While she wanted to sleep, sobs racked through her body as her head hit the pillow. She had held everything in until that moment, trying to be the tough one for You, but as she finally returned to an empty bed, it hit her all at once. There was a good chance she would have to start getting used to sleeping alone. 

But for now, she just couldn’t do it.

Riko dragged her blankets out towards the walrus exhibit. While she couldn’t have You in her arms once more, she was okay with resting herself near You’s company. 

Riko knew You could hear her as once she stepped into the hall, You was already scratching at the glass again.

Considering her good hearing, Riko didn’t have to speak loud. The red-haired girl settled into sheets, taking one last glance at the new You before her,

“Goodnight, You.”

Riko turned over, tightly shutting her eyes as she dragged her blanket over her head. All she could hear were the soft punches against the glass. 

That night had begun the recurring nightmare, taking Riko's already fragile sleep schedule to another level. No matter how many times she tried to think of anything else, her mind just went back to everything she could’ve done for fate to play out differently.

Yet, in some odd way, it inspired her greatly. 

She would do anything to have You in her arms again, even if it meant defying everything she once knew before.

* * *

Riko rubbed her eyes as she glanced at her watch. It was already two in the morning, way past her bedtime. She trudged her way into the same hall she had gotten so used to within the past week. 

Just like always, she sat herself right by You’s holding area. She hadn’t brought her mattress out of the room yet, as she didn’t want to think of that spot as her new sleeping area for good. 

Since the second dosage Riko had given, You hadn’t responded negatively to any noise, but rather perked up at hearing someone come near. Few times she was excited, most though she wore a blank expression. Riko couldn’t judge, she knew it had to be boring in there.

“Sorry I’m late. Remember the last few trials I was telling you about? Yeah well, they were a failure so I don’t have anything new to bring you, You.”

You sat by the glass, leaning against it, as she stared down at the blankets Riko sat atop of.

“It’s okay though, I’m going to try and get through a couple more tomorrow and hopefully there will be a new dosage I can give you. We have a little over half a month left so don’t panic yet, okay?”

You did nothing but huff against the glass, creating a breath of fog. Riko tried her best to look happy for her, but it hurt coming back with nothing new.

“H-Hey, why don’t I tell you the story of one of my favorite dates of ours? You were actually wearing that costume, it was just about the funniest thing-”

You locked eyes with Riko, not saying anything, but rather just staring at her. Though it was horrifying to see You with deathly pale skin and glazed over eyes look straight at her, Riko couldn’t help but think it was the real You poking out for a moment. She always tried to stop Riko when she would attempt to retell that story to anyone. 

“Okay, how about I tell you the story of how you turned, again? You were a bit interested last time.”

You did nothing but look away, blankly staring at Riko’s sheets once more as she continued to lean on the glass. Though she looked like a depressed puppy, Riko took that as a sign. Pulling the blankets overself, Riko snuggled herself into the warmth.

The story telling had become a habit, as Riko couldn’t exactly go a day without talking to You. It was the same as when they were just teenagers, staying up into the depths of the night just to hear one another for a minute longer. Plus, since calming down with the second dosage, it became much easier for Riko to tell the stories.

Riko knew You would stay awake most of the night and would also most likely be in the same spot when she woke up, but it was nice to know You was always there no matter the time or place.

Riko yawned out, already feeling the tiredness creep up on her,

“Well, it all started a couple days ago. We had just enough supplies to get us to and back in one piece, or at least that was the plan.”

Riko continued out her story and just like every night, she could gain a slight reaction from You, whether it was a small groan or just a twitch in her blank facial expression. It wasn’t a lot but it was all she could ask for. Riko’s own voice usually lulled herself to sleep, a pattern she was afraid of growing used to.

Though she wasn’t one to pray, Riko did hope every night that You wasn’t slipping from her. She still had a partial window of time to save her and so long as she kept her eating and drinking like a normal person, her transition would be stunted. That only put extra strain on Riko as she had to wake up early each morning, despite staying awake all night, to check on the traps to make sure no zombies would be attracted to the noise of the scared animals.

Of course, those simple traps outside were for only Riko but it would soon attract some unwanted guests into figuring out there was life within those aquarium walls.


	2. Partners in Crime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, second chapter is done lmao. These chapters are like nearly five times longer than my one-shots so they're taking a lot longer to get out. That and I love to procrastinate. Anyways, thanks again to my buddy @DarkyVA on twitter for helping me out with grammar and stuff. Have fun reading, Yousoro and out (๑>◡╹)ゞ

“Why is she sleeping like that?”

“What are you talking about? She’s sleeping like a normal person.”

“I don’t know, she looks kind of... dead.”

Riko could hear a distant conversation from all around as she felt her senses coming back to the light. It was so peaceful, why were there visitors judging her in her own world?

With her body forcing itself awake in panic of the unknown, the voices only grew closer to her. Yet neither of them sounded familiar.

“Wait, she’s not dead.”

Riko threw her arm over her face to block out the fluorescent lights of the aquarium. As she cracked an eye open, Riko was met by two girls standing at the foot of her blankets just staring at her. She was definitely right about neither of them being familiar to her.

Quickly waking up from her sudden guests’ appearance, Riko threw the blankets off of herself, gasping in shock with the idea that two strangers had just broken into her home. Backed into the glass window, the red-haired girl immediately began searching her pockets for her pocket knife. Before she could calm her shaking hands to actually do what she wanted though, the girl with a long sleek blue ponytail raised her gun right between Riko’s eyes,

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Riko stared at the chamber in front of her, taking a gulp of air as she realized these intruders were not here to mess around. Slowly lifting her hands upwards, Riko tried to hold back the tears that were beginning to form at the corner of her eyes.

“Come on, Kanan. Don’t scare her too much.”

Riko peeked an eye over at the other girl by the bluenette’s side. She had shoulder length blonde hair with a loop at the side of her head. Kanan, presumably, looked over at her,

“We can’t trust anyone, Mari. She looks innocent but what if that’s an act?”

Riko shook her head back and forth, as if confirming that she indeed was not a threat. She wasn’t sure how the girls had gotten into her home without her noticing it, or better yet, without You noticing.

It didn’t take long before the two girls began to bicker back and forth over how to act in front of the young girl. Mari was smiling with her words as Kanan wore a serious face. While they were distracted, Riko took a glance around the hall she was in, checking to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon. Unfortunately, pillows were the only method of attack she could see.

Kanan snapped her fingers in front of Riko, gathering her attention once more,

“Hey, get up. We need to ask you a few questions and if you’re good, we’ll let you go.”

Riko stayed silent, but she listened. She couldn’t exactly overpower two people on her own.

Slowly getting up, the red-haired girl kept her hands in the air as she waited for her orders. Kanan motioned Riko to turn, looking towards the end of the hall. As she did so, Mari’s hands immediately went for the young girl's body. Riko jumped up, letting out a squeal of embarrassment, as she felt a pair of hands grope her breasts,

“Looks like there’s nothing there.”

Scoffing, Riko held onto all of her willpower to not punch Mari. The blonde only giggled at her frustration as her hands really got to work. Patting her down extra long, Mari made sure to rest her hands on certain areas Riko flinched in, as she searched for any weapons.

With Riko’s face heated in a blush, Mari’s lingering hands finally withdrew her hidden pocket knife. Waving it back and forth in front of the young girl’s face, Mari walked back towards Kanan while playing with the object in her hands,

“She’s clean. She only had this little guy.”

With that confirmation, Kanan walked forward to push the gun onto Riko’s back, ordering her to do the same. As Riko slowly took her first steps, something caught her eye. You’s home; the door leading outside of the containment center was cracked open.

“Oh my god.”

Riko whispered to herself. If You was out, she wasn’t sure where she had gone. Usually she only left the room when Riko was awake, never when she was sleeping. It couldn’t have been a worse time for You to be roaming the halls.

Kanan walked behind Riko, pushing her gun to her back once more, knocking her out of her daydream,

“Keep walking.”

Riko guided them through the halls, horrified as she glanced down each pathway, fearing You would appear from nowhere. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if Kanan and Mari saw her running towards them at full speed, even if the costume did take away a few of the more horror aspects of her.

Rather than letting herself find that out, Riko led them silently to the conference room of the building. It was where she had the most room for them to talk but also most importantly, where she knew she had placed You’s gun on the first night they returned.

Pushing open the double doors, Riko led Kanan and Mari into the dysfunctionally organized room. It was a combination of her previous bedroom with You, as well as her now office where she kept all of her research documents. As Riko stood in the middle of the room with her hands remaining upwards and back towards Kanan, she awaited orders once more.

“Turn around.”

Riko sighed, not prepared for just how she was going to get herself out of this situation. As Riko faced the two girls, she noticed that Mari wasn’t right next to Kanan like she usually was, instead she was scoping out the room.

“Hey! Don’t go through my stu-!”

Kanan raised her gun higher towards Riko, cutting off her yell,

“I’m just checking it out.”

Mari yelled over her shoulder as she began digging through the cabinets, making her way over towards the desk slowly. Riko prayed she wouldn’t find the gun strapped beneath it.

As Mari searched and made a mess of Riko’s office, Kanan broke the silence,

“I’m sure you already know our names from hearing us talk to each other. So, the question is, what’s your name?”

“Riko.”

Kanan looked back at Mari, as if fact checking to make sure her name was really Riko. Mari shrugged her shoulders as she began heading for the drawers of the desk. Pulling out paperwork, Mari made a mess of Riko’s organized desk,

“Okay, Riko. What are you doing all the way out here?”

“I live here.”

Kanan raised her eyebrow, almost baffled at the idea that one girl could set up an entire living space with generated power on her own,

“Alone?”

Riko opened her mouth but soon closed it. She wasn’t sure how to answer that. In a way, she did live alone but at the same time, You wasn’t gone just yet. But, they wouldn’t understand that. Letting out in a sigh, Riko answered,

“Yes, it’s just me here.”

“Then who’s this hottie?”

Kanan, as well as Riko, looked over towards Mari. She had found Riko’s old stash of photos she kept of You and her when they were younger. The pictures were an assortment of their memories, ranging from their dates, to just spending lazy afternoons together. The photo Mari had in her hands though was from when they had just moved into their new apartment together. On it was a sleeping You, cuddled into her jacket on the couch. The picture was taken when Riko had just come home with their fast food dinner, only to find her sleeping beauty taking a quick nap after exhaustion had hit her from moving boxes all day.

Riko smiled at the memory, they were so young and naive to the new world, but she would do it all again if she had to,

“That’s my girlfriend.”

Mari looked at the picture before at Riko again. This time the question fell from her mouth,

“Where is she now?”

Riko’s face paled, she couldn’t get caught in her lie so quickly. With her voice cracking, she fibbled the truth,

“She’s gone.”

Mari tossed the picture over her shoulder, letting it fall to the floor as she kept going through Riko’s other things. Kanan stepped back into place to face Riko as she continued their talk,

“How long has she been gone for?”

Riko rolled her eyes, annoyed that they had absolutely no respect for her apparent dead girlfriend,

“Can you put the picture back, please? Plus, why does that matter?”

Mari ignored Riko’s request, instead making more of a mess to upset the young girl. Kanan, however, grew serious as she stood taller in front of Riko,

“About a week ago our village was infiltrated. Rumors say it was one man, others say there were more people involved. The story changes with every person it passes through. Whoever did it came in under the disguise of night and murdered our leaders. No one knows where they are now, we just know that they got away. We don’t know if zombies got to them, or maybe they’re on the edge of town, waiting for this all to die down before they escape for good.”

The way Kanan specified the ending led Riko to assume that she was talking about her. Riko couldn’t help but be offended at the accusation. She let out in an exasperated tone,

“I didn’t murder anybody, okay? They’re probably dead anyways, I haven’t seen anyone actually alive in a long time. Everyone I see is freshly turned so hey, maybe the virus already got them? And most importantly, if your leaders were killed, wouldn’t they send out more than two people to search the entire city?”

Riko raised her eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips, as she was the one who questioned the bluenette in front of her. Kanan, however, just lowered her gun as she waved her free hand around, trying her best to explain the situation,

“Well, technically, we aren’t the official search team. We’re best friends with the leader’s daughter-“

“Do you think she considers us her best friends?”

Mari cut off Kanan as she looked up from her current skimming of Riko’s other pictures. Kanan only shrugged her shoulders as she pouted,

“I mean, I consider her our best friend. That’s besides the point! Look, she’s been busy right now taking over the village, we just thought we’d do some hunting. It would definitely make her happy if we came back with the person who did it.”

Riko laughed at the logic, it was just two friends thinking they could take down trained murderers.

“Look, I haven’t gone outside in over a week. Only time I do is to grab the rainwater or check on my traps. Past that, I don’t leave. But I would love it if you guys did.”

Kanan looked unsure of Riko’s answer. No even the sheltered kids in their village could stay indoors all day,

“What are you doing inside all the time? I’m sure it gets boring after a while.”

Riko’s smug attitude soon fell, as did her gaze at the girls in front of her. It was embarrassing to admit that she still had faith in a better future without zombies,

“I-I’m looking for a cure.”

Mari’s laugh broke into the conversation, almost echoing with how loud it was in the room,

“Still? I thought everyone gave up on that?”

Riko snapped her head upwards, almost angry at Mari’s ridicule,

“Not everyone!”

Before an argument could spark though, Kanan cut in, annoyed with Mari’s inability to stay focused with the task at hand,

“Mari, seriously? Everyone wastes their own time in different ways, you don’t have to judge her.”

Riko wasn’t sure if she should be happy or offended by Kanan’s statement. Mari, however, smiled as something else popped into her head,

“You’re right, though I gotta say, I like the way we waste our time together, Kanan.”

The blue-haired girl shot Mari a harsh look, entirely facing her to give her a piece of her mind,

“You see, this is why Dia doesn’t like hanging out with us. You always have to make your weird innuendos and it just-”

Before Kanan could continue her rant against a smiling Mari though, a sudden bang rang throughout the aquarium. Kanan and Mari looked at one another, confused for a moment at what was happening, before Kanan hardened her look. Turning around, the blue-haired girl locked her gun back on Riko,

“I thought you said no one else was here.”

Riko backed up, stiffening as she reached her hands towards the roof again. She knew she was about to be caught in her lie. As the room faded to silence, Mari stopped messing with Riko’s desk. Grabbing at the pocket knife she stole from the young girl, Mari flipped it open,

“You know what happens to liars, right?”

Riko stepped forward now, yelling out in an attempt to stop the blonde,

“Wait! It’s not what it looks like!”

Kanan stepped forward though, cutting Riko off from getting any closer to Mari,

“Shut up. Mari, go get our guest.”

Mari strutted over towards the exit, flipping her hair over her shoulder,

“I’ll be back before you know it!”

Riko looked over at Mari as she was leaving the room. She seemed so happy to go and possibly stab someone but Riko couldn’t let her go after You. Not when she wasn’t sure how the sailor would react towards someone foreign, at least You had grown used to seeing Riko. The young girl turned back to Kanan as she tried to plead with her,

“Look, I don’t have a lot but please, take anything you want just don’t touch her. W-What if it was Mari that you were protecting? Put yourself in my shoes!”

Kanan tried her hardest to keep her cool demeanor under Riko’s comparative relationships,

“W-Well, first off, Mari and I aren’t like you two, okay? Besides, if your girlfriend comes along willingly, nothing bad will happen and we’ll be on our way.”

Based on her stutter, as well as the way Kanan couldn’t look Riko in the eyes, it was pretty obvious to the red-haired girl that their relationships were pretty alike. And Riko was going to use that card to her advantage,

“Really? We’re all adults here. I went through it too, there’s nothing wrong with falling for your best friend.”

Kanan furrowed her eyebrows. She didn’t like where this conversation was headed,

“Look, can you just be quiet for once second-“

As always though, Mari cut her off but rather than with her words, it was an ear piercing scream. Dropping her stance, Kanan turned towards the noise,

“Mari!”

Kanan didn’t care for Riko anymore as she began running towards the direction she last saw Mari head towards. As soon as the gun wasn’t pointed at her anymore, Riko ran towards her desk, quickly fumbling her hands to grab at the gun strapped underneath it. It was heavier than she remembered, but she didn’t have time to get used to it when You’s life was at stake.

Kanan was quite the runner, as Riko soon found out when she entered the halls once more, but the young girl managed to just barely catch her hair whipping around every corner.

In the room the chase was headed towards, Mari continued to yell out as You had her pinned to the ground. While Mari’s hands tried to push at You’s shoulders, as the pocket knife she had once held was on the other side of the room, the large costume helped in adding extra weight on top of her. Due to her cone though, all of You’s bites were falling short of her victim. Mari tried to squirm out from underneath but it wasn’t working with how firmly You had her in place. Thinking on it now, Mari really wished she had just stayed with Riko rather than attempting to handle this.

Kanan burst into the room first, catching sight of just what was happening. She couldn’t see You’s face due to her messy hair and blocking cone, but guessing from the girl in the photo Mari previously found, Kanan could only guess it was the girlfriend in question. If it weren’t for the obvious signs of trying to bite at Mari, You’s hisses towards the blonde was a dead give away that You really was gone like Riko had said.

Raising her gun, Kanan took aim to ease the scene before her but as she did so, Riko ran into the room. Raising her gun high, the red-haired girl yelled out,

“Stop!“

Two bullets echoed within the small room, smoke radiating from Kanan as well as Riko’s muzzle. None of them accounted for the noise being much louder indoors as it bounced within the cramped room. Fortunately, that worked in Riko’s favor, as it caused Kanan’s bullet to misfire completely, hitting the wall behind the two girls on the floor while her own hit the ceiling.

All eyes turned to Riko as her gun shakily lowered from her aim at the roof to her new target: Kanan.

“S-Stay right there, okay? Y-You, come over here. Please.”

Riko motioned her hand towards You, not taking an eye off the bluenette. Kanan and Mari though both looked at Riko as if she were the dumbest person they had ever met. Neither one of them could grasp the concept of what was going on in that moment. Before they could laugh at how ridiculous Riko looked trying to control a zombie, You actually stood up from Mari, following her command. You was sure to slowly growl at Kanan as they passed by one another. While Kanan was going to open her mouth to say something, Riko beat her to it,

“Drop your gun and sit down, please.”

Kanan looked between Riko and You, still not comprehending that a zombie could even have a smidge of intelligence. However, if it wasn’t attacking her, she couldn’t exactly complain. Instead, she did as she was told. With the gun being placed on the ground, the blue-haired girl walked over towards Mari, helping her sit up. She was a bit shaken from that entire encounter as most times she would usually make some sort of joke about Kanan holding her close. Riko walked forward a bit, closing the space between them, as she grabbed Kanan’s gun from the floor while keeping a mental reminder at her pocket knife on the ground.

“Now, i-it’s my turn to ask the questions.”

Both girls were now at the mercy of Riko as she held all the cards. They were lucky though since Riko couldn’t handle tough situations for the life of her,

“Can you please leave now?”

Kanan turned to Mari but before she could whisper anything to her, the blonde was one step ahead. Already standing with her hands up in the air, Mari motioned her head for Kanan to get up as well. Of course, Kanan followed but she was sure to feed Mari an annoyed look as she too put her hands in the air. Mari didn’t even spare her a moment for a possible plan to get out of their situation.

With a smile on her face, Mari spoke out to Riko,

“Alright, lead the way and we’ll be out of your hair.”

Riko shakily motioned her gun to have them turn around, just as Kanan did with her. The blue-haired only rolled her eyes as she turned. Riko didn’t even look like she had ever held a weapon in her life.

Mari, however, could see why Riko was so scared. Mari couldn’t imagine being in her spot, only having one person in the world by your side, barely hanging on by a thread, only for someone else to come in and try and take them from her. If what Riko was saying about finding a cure was true, Mari couldn’t be the person to stop her from trying.

While Kanan was upset over them getting caught and kicked out, Mari only nudged her shoulder in an attempt to get her out of her mood,

“Hey, just put yourself in her spot, okay? What if that was us?”

Kanan looked forward, not bothering to show Riko any empathy,

“Well first off, I wouldn’t let that happen to you.”

Mari only giggled at her attempt to play it cool,

“Yeah, I’m sure you wouldn't.”

As they approached the doors to the front of the aquarium, Riko spoke out in a cracked voice,

“You can open it. I’ll lead you a ways out and then I’ll let you go.”

Kanan opened the door first, letting Mari out as she followed behind. As the red-haired girl walked through the doors, she quickly realized it was the first time she was actually walking more than ten feet from her home. She had forgotten how worn down the place had gotten. The grass grew beyond their barriers as the walking path had long failed the test of time. Before they could go very far, Riko heard the squeaks of shoes against the floor following them. Turning, Riko could see You trailed closely behind the three of them.

“You can stay here, You. I’ll be right back.”

You didn't say anything but rather glanced at Kanan and Mari as they continued to walk. Letting out a grunt, You sat down, letting a squeak from her costume out.

As Riko continued to lead Kanan and Mari towards the main road of the aquarium where the gates could allow the public in and out, she couldn’t help but think about what had just happened. You was actually listening to her. Before this she stood with silent stares and no soul within her eyes, but in that moment she was actually watching over Riko. She didn’t have to listen to her, she could’ve gone after Kanan when she entered the room or actually really hurt Mari but she didn’t. It was almost as if the traumatic events woke something inside of her from the past. Of course, Riko really didn’t want to test that once more, but maybe their talks every night were getting her somewhere.

As they reached the gate, Riko told Kanan the same command as before. Carefully watching around the area, the blue-haired girl opened the rusty gate, leading herself and Mari out of Riko’s presence.

Now with Mari and Kanan on the other side, Riko wasn't sure what to do. She had never been in a situation like this before. Usually it was You who dealt with everything, from the punishment to even their death. Though she couldn’t ask for help now, she had to go with her gut.

Kanan jumped up as a hand was felt near her bottom, before she could grab at it though, the red-haired girl quickly backed away,

“I just put your gun back. I’d feel bad letting you go out without anything to defend yourself.”

Riko spoke as she slowly backed into the aquarium gates again, still keeping her gun on the girls. Kanan and Mari both stood on the road, beyond over their previous fear of the younger girl as they saw just how awkward Riko really was. She managed to bump into the gate, patting the door to find her way back to it’s opening as she kept her eyes on them.

It was quite sad. Sighing out, Mari took a step closer,

“Hey, Riko!”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for not killing us.”

Riko looked down at the ground. Was that a common thing people would do? Had she made the mistake of letting them free? Though it seemed reasonable, the rational part of her knew nobody should be thanked over saving a life.

“I’m not a savage. But I do ask, please don’t come back.”

“Okay, that’s a promise. But hey, if you ever get tired of this place, you should come to our village!”

Riko peaked her head up at the sudden offering, as if she didn’t just hold them at gunpoint a moment ago. Kanan stepped forward though, putting her hand on Mari’s shoulder to warn her,

“I wouldn’t do that, Mari. Dia doesn’t take kindly to strangers-”

Mari swatted Kanan’s hand away as she turned towards her. While she tried to lower her voice, that task was nearly impossible for an Ohara,

“Look at her Kanan, she’s all alone out here. It’s kind of depressing. I’m sure if we explained it, Dia would let her in.”

Riko peeked out from behind the gate, slightly annoyed that they were making her out to be a recluse. Not that she could really even deny it either, she did spend nearly every waking moment in her office. Mari turned back to Riko though before Kanan could continue to argue against her,

“Look, we're just past the Uranohoshi Girls' Academy. If you go and follow the road downhill, you’ll find us by the seaside near the Takami Inn. Just let them know that you come in peace and that we invited you.”

Kanan slapped at Mari’s hair loop, quieting the girl immediately,

“Mari! You can’t tell her our location! Dia’s really going to kill us now-”

Mari turned around, putting on a deathly friendly smile,

“What did I say about touching the loop? Besides she’s harmless, if anything we’re doing her a favor.”

“After she tried to kill us?”

“Only after we tried to kill her zombie girlfriend.”

Riko watched the two continue their banter like always, half considering just closing the door and leaving them to it. Mari, however, turned back for a final time,

“Well, we’ll be on our way now. My offer still stands, don’t mind this oaf here,”

Mari slapped at Kanan’s chest, putting all of her strength into it as she knocked the air out of the blue-haired girl,

“Also sorry about laughing about the cure thing, you look like you’ve got that under control with how well she listened to you back there. Just, if it doesn’t go well, know that you aren’t alone. We could use a great doctor in our village. So, I guess I’ll see you around.”

Mari waved at Riko as the young girl stared half dazed at them. No one had ever been so kind of her since the apocalypse started, or even before it. It was nice to feel as if they were human again, even if it was for a bit. Riko raised her hand, waving back slightly as she shut the door with her other hand.

She only stayed at the door long enough to hear their footsteps grow in the distance as well as Kanan’s multiple apologies for the loop touching.

As Riko walked her way back to You, she found her still sitting in the same spot she had left her, staring in Riko’s direction. The red-haired girl brought her hand up to wave, still feeling a bit joyous from such an offering from Mari. You tilted her head at Riko before lifting her hand in the same notion. Though the young sailor didn’t know what she was doing, it still brought a smile to Riko’s lips.

Riko walked by You, tapping her shoulder for her to get up to follow her inside. Closing the doors, Riko made a mental reminder to go outside once in a while.

The cherry blossoms were just falling. You’s favorite time of the year.

Riko went back to her main room and while she could hear the squeaks of You’s shoes following her, she wouldn’t mind some company as she cleaned up the mess that had just occurred there. Riko knew You had to get bored in that room very quickly, especially if she was starting to leave more often.

You only stood by the door though as Riko cleaned the room, watching as she organized her papers that Mari had tossed around.

While grabbing the fallen documents, Riko found the picture Mari had pointed out from before on the floor. Picking it up, she could see how peaceful You had been that day as she slept on the couch. She hadn’t seen that in a long time as You always feared what would happen each day.

The knot in Riko’s throat felt like she was trying to swallow a marble. It physically pained her to see how perfect their life was before everything had happened. When they were happy with the way things were.

Riko looked over at You, holding the picture in her hands yet her sailor just stood there emotionless, watching her. It wasn’t the You she knew, despite how hard she had been trying to make it seem that way.

Taking a seat at the desk’s chair, Riko looked down at the picture in front of her,

“Hey, You, do you remember the day we moved in together?”

Riko looked up, tilting her head. Of course You didn’t answer but with the call of her name, she walked towards the red-haired girl. Though she stood directly in front of her, Riko pointed towards the bed,

“You can sit down if you want? I don’t mind the company every once in a while.”

You still stood staring at Riko though, as if her words went in one ear and out the other. Riko couldn’t exactly expect anything less. Slouching her shoulders as she let out a sigh, Riko got up, taking the picture in her hands with her. As she grabbed at You’s hand, she guided them both to sit down on the mattress.

“This is what I mean when I say ‘sit’, got it? It’s almost the same as ‘stay’, okay?”

You only responded with a grunt and that was enough for Riko. Though she couldn’t lie, actually sitting down on a mattress was quite the change from sitting on the hard floor or chair for hours at a day. It wouldn’t hurt to tell the story from there. It was a long day, she deserved a bit of a break.

Leaning her head on You’s padded shoulder, Riko placed the picture between their touching knees,

“It kind of feels like forever ago, you know? We had just graduated college and we celebrated pretty hard the day before. ‘How hard?’, you probably ask? Let’s just say, you took a while to even look at anything alcoholic for at least a month.”

Riko giggled out as her story flowed with every memory coming back into her mind.

* * *

Riko fumbled with her keys as she had just inserted the wrong one for the second time. She didn’t know why she had so many, all she knew was that it was getting difficult to hold a pizza and two sodas while trying to open a door.

She had tried knocking but You just wasn’t answering. Riko had figured she was in the bathroom, but for so long? At this point she was just lazy or entirely ignoring her.

As the third time marked the charm, Riko finally got the key to open into her and You’s new apartment. It was like taking a breath of fresh air, with slight chemicals from the brand new paint on the walls.

Everyone had told her that it wasn’t a good idea to get an apartment together when they were still so young and barely going to enter the real world. Especially now with the fact that You had just gotten her newest internship at Japan’s largest ferry route. Yet, Riko couldn’t refuse the offer when her now official sailor had begged her to move in with her.

They had cut You a deal where she could train her first year of basics on land before they slowly integrated her into the sea. As soon as she heard that, You was at Riko’s dorm pleading with her to be her “first mate”.

Getting back to her thoughts at their new home, Riko made her way into their small kitchen. It was a two bedroom apartment but they mostly just made the second room a hobby part of their house where they could just do their own things by one another.

Riko put the food on the counter as she searched the boxes in the kitchen for their plates.

“You, dinner’s ready!”

Riko called out, but there was no response. Peeking her head up, Riko called out again,

“You?”

Silence echoed in the apartment as the question was left unanswered. Getting up, Riko rounded the scattered boxes as she checked around the room to see where her sailor might be.

Before she could make it very far from the kitchen, Riko found her. You was cuddled into her blue jacket on the only couch in their living room. Her feet went over the edge as it was just a love couch. She still wore her sweatpants with boat socks she had changed into before Riko had left. Her hair was messy as the drool slid down the side of her face. It was quite possibly the most relaxed Riko had seen You within the previous four years of college.

Rather than waking her, Riko watched her steps as she slowly made her way into their spare room. She knew she had packed her instant camera in there, as it was just a little hobby she had of taking a random assortment of pictures. Though most were non-living things, she had a secret collection of You pictures building.

It didn’t take long before her in her hands rested a small pink portable camera with just enough film for the girl before her.

With a flash to illuminate the room, Riko captured You’s sleeping presence. Even though it was so bright, You was so entirely burned out from moving all day, she didn’t even flinch with the light.

Putting the camera on the counter with the new picture by its side, Riko grabbed at the box of pizza along with the drinks. She walked by You, nudging her face with the cold beverages.

“Agh, cold!”

You swatted the drinks away, peeking her eye open to see a mischievous smile on Riko’s lips,

“You weren’t waking up so I had to try something. Now move aside.”

You begrudgingly got up, making sure to take extra long with her groans of tiredness as Riko watched her while rolling her eyes.

As they got situated onto the couch with their food around them, both girls sat by one another as they huddled around You’s phone. They had yet to get any cable or internet for their new place so wasting You’s mobile data was all they could do. Riko was letting her food cool down while You attempted to eat it while it was still piping hot.

Quickly swallowing at the burning cheese in her mouth, You turned towards Riko as she was entirely focused in the video they were watching,

“Hey, Riko. I just want to say thanks.”

Riko looked up at You, breaking her concentration on the phone as she was curious of the sudden gratitude,

“Thanks for what? Getting the food?”

You laughed as Riko would think the first thing she thought of was her stomach,

“Well that too, but thank you for moving in with me. I’ve always wanted someone to come home to everyday. I guess, I’m just really happy it’s going to be you now.”

Riko looked down at her food. You loved to drop little admirations of her love on Riko when she least expected it. It always made her ears burn from such a love overload,

“Why do you always feel the need to embarrass me?”

“Because I love you, a lot.”

You leaned back, smiling as she knew she had done a good job if Riko was hiding her face.

As You attempted to bite into another steaming hot slice of pizza, Riko palmed her cold drink, searching for anything to cool down the heat rising inside her,

“I love you too.”


	3. The Three Musketeers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it's been almost a month since the last chapter. Sorry about that, forgot I existed for a bit there lmao. Either way, I am here with more of their story. Please enjoy and I'll see you next time. Yousoro and out (๑>◡╹)ゞ

_April 13, 2026_

_Day 14._

_I hate this life. Pretty much, long story short, a storm knocked the power out and I can’t get the generator running with all the rain pouring outside. Now I’m writing in the dark with a lamp like I’m in the freaking 1920s. You is god knows where. I heard her occasionally in the halls but she must’ve bumped into a wall or something because she’s pretty silent now. Maybe she finally burned herself out? Ever since last week when Kanan and Mari broke in she hasn’t really rested, or at least not like before. She’s just always on alert now. Well, at least if she did finally go to sleep I can get around to changing her bandages again. I haven’t done that in a while. I know such malpractice like that can lead to an infection but I’m trying to keep it close enough to not risk anything while also rationing our supplies. First time changing her bandages was not easy, let me tell you that, journal. I only managed to do it because luckily You doesn’t have very good reaching ability within her costume so sitting on her back practically immobilized her. Just imagine trying to give a cat a shower but the cat is 20 times stronger and that would summarize our encounter. That just reminded me of that time You and I thought about getting a pet! Well, you see,_

_**PLOP** _

Riko’s pen stopped its process as she heard something echo within the aquarium. It was little, almost hardly noticeable, but it sounded all too similar to something falling. While it could’ve been the rain, or even You, Riko wasn’t entirely sure.

Cautiously, Riko slowly put her pen back to the paper.

_Well, you see, You had been begging me for a dog for the longest time. She said she would walk it and care for it but honestly I was not prepared for her to come home with the biggest and fluffiest thing she could find. While it would match her, that didn’t sit well with me. So, I suggested a cat but-_

Another noise echoed in the aquarium, startling the young girl out of her journal entree once more. By now Riko knew it definitely was not an accident from gravity. Getting up, Riko put her pen on the table as she began to investigate. She took ahold of her lamp before walking towards the room’s main door frame,

“You? Is that you?”

A squeak of shoes came bouncing towards Riko, yet the direction was opposite from where the falling objects resided. As You came to a stop before Riko, she stared at her, curious of why she was called. Grabbing at her hand, Riko guided her in the room, bringing them towards her desk as she whispered close to her,

“You, I think someone got inside again.”

“Gaaao?”

You let out her growl in an attempt to respond. Riko quickly turned, grabbing at the gun by her journal to tuck into her pants, as she shushed You. Ever since their encounter with Kanan and Mari, Riko couldn’t help but think of what would have happened if they hadn’t been merciful with her. Kanan could’ve easily taken her out, leaving You practically defenseless with how safety proved she was in her suit. And while she liked to look at the brighter side of things, it was too high of a risk for Riko to want to face again.

Leading them down the halls, Riko listened out for the noises once more, hearing it grow more towards the rear of the aquarium. While she did lock the doors, there were always little holes all around the building, considering the sanctuary let their animals see the real world from time to time.

With a sudden fall of equipment behind one of the numerous doors within the walls, Riko put her hand on You’s chest to stop her as they both stared at the door in front of them. There were voices talking with one another, but due to such a heavy rainfall outside Riko could barely decipher what they were saying. All she knew was that there were more intruders, most likely searching the random rooms to take whatever they could find.

Taking the gun out from the back of her pants, Riko took a deep breath. She had to look more serious if she wanted whoever was behind the door to fear her. Her gun could only do so much of the talking.

Wiping the initial terror from her face the best she could, Riko took a step forward. Raising her weapon, with her utmost false confidence, the young girl was determined to make a different first impression than with Kanan and Mari.

That was the plan, at least.

A large lightning strike burst through the ears of everyone within the miles radius, setting off a chain reaction and though it was within a two second frame, everything happened at once.

Riko screamed aloud, closing her eyes as she fired a bullet through the door. A group of screams could be heard as more objects began to topple within the room as well. With everyone in such a panic, even You ran off as Riko could hear her squeaking steps fading into the distance of the hall. While she was tempted to call her back, Riko could hear almost children like voices behind the door grabbing her attention.

“Yoshiko, are you okay? Hanamaru, help me get her up!”

“Agh, it’s Yohane! And does it look like I’m okay, Ruby?!”

“Don’t yell at Ruby because you’re upset, zura. That is only going to make this situation worse.”

The group of girls all attempted to talk over one another, as if they had completely forgotten someone with a weapon was waiting for them on the other side. Reaching at the handle, Riko cracked the door open as she brought her lamp up close to see what was going on.

Inside the room were three girls, none of them looking older than 16. One laid on the floor while the other two were crouched down beside her, ready to pick her up. As they all stared at Riko, she got a good look at each of them.

Though they were all drenched from the rain while also dressed as if they weren’t prepared for anything, each of them had a different aspect about them. On the left was a small red-haired girl. Dirty with small scratches scattered all across her face and arms as she clearly was not ready for the dangers of the forest. On the right was the smallest brown-haired girl. She looked fairly clean from everything in the outside world, even her eyes showed so much purity behind them. Lastly, on the floor in the middle of the two, laid a dark blue-haired girl with a bun at the side of her head. She held onto her right arm in almost a fetal-like position, seeming the most frightened from the trio as she spotted Riko’s gun first from all of them.

The room fell silent as each girl glanced between one another, curious of what was going to happen next.

Quick to have the upper hand, Riko raised her gun towards the teenagers in front of her as she shouted out in her most authoritative voice,

“What are you doing here?”

As soon as the girls saw the gun being pointed, they all let out a scream, closing their eyes as they huddled against one another in fear. Both standing girls fell to their knees as they held onto their bleeding friend, who just curled into a ball more. Lightly raising her head, the smallest one shakily let out,

“W-We’re just looking for a place to stay, ma’am. We didn’t know anyone lived here, zura.”

Riko raised her eyebrow, not entirely certain she could trust their innocent look to them. Yet, the kids in front of her were soaking wet while the one in the middle was bleeding on her floor. The scene before her didn’t look threatening at all. Huffing out, Riko decided to pry a bit more.

“What are your names?”

The red-haired girl raised her hand, shaking in every way as she introduced the three of them.

“M-My name is Ruby. These are my best friends, Yoshiko and Hanamaru.”

Riko looked at the two other girls as they were introduced. They all seemed frightened of their situation but she couldn’t let them stay, not when she still needed to find You and especially not after her fiasco with Kanan and Mari.

“Look, you three are going to have to find another place to go to. I can’t-”

Before Riko could continue her explanation though, Yoshiko was now the first one to speak out,

“You’re kicking us out while it’s raining? And after you shot me in the arm!”

Riko widened her eyes as she took a light step back. She was not used to kids talking back to her,

“I-I didn’t shoot you in the arm. With how much blood you’re losing it looks like I barely skimmed you.”

Hanamaru cut into the situation next as Ruby was already on the verge of tears from their yells,

“Ma’am, please, have mercy. Ruby just lost her parents and we only need one night here, zura. We’ll be out of your hair by the morning to attend the funeral.”

Riko felt bad for a moment as she listened to Hanamaru’s plea. Riko didn’t even get to spend time with her own parents before the outbreak took them away from her. To have them with her only to lose them during such a hard time would’ve been heartbreaking, especially at a young age. Riko could feel herself getting choked up, that was before a realization hit her. Those kids were trying to guilt trip her into letting them stay,

“I’m sorry about that but who hasn’t lost their parents during this pandemic? It’s more common than you would think.”

Yoshiko sat up, still holding at her arm,

“Wow, rude, but like have a heart please?”

By now Ruby had brought her hands to her face as her sobs silently racked through her body. She accepted Riko was not going to let them stay but Hanamaru and Yoshiko were not letting it go. Ruby needed this, after every bad thing that kept happening to her, she deserved one good day. Hanamaru and Yoshiko made eye contact for a moment before silently agreeing to continue the argument. Hanamaru, being great with words, tried her reasoning next,

“Put yourself in our shoes, zura! You wouldn’t want to stay in the rain the entire night, would you?”

The words hit Riko harder than she would’ve liked. She wanted Kanan and Mari to give her sympathy more than anything but instead she had to take control of the situation herself to get what she wanted. Who was she to treat the teenagers in front of her the exact same as to how she was.

“Yeah, think about your own kids!”

Yoshiko yelled out next. That sentence was quick to snap Riko out of her thoughts,

“Wait, I don’t have kids. What are you implying?”

The room fell silent as Yoshiko nervously glanced towards the floor while Riko put her hand on her hip, waiting for an answer. Giving Yoshiko a light punch, Hanamaru whispered,

“Why would you say that?”

“I thought she would feel bad for us! Plus she gave off a “mom” feel, so I just figured.”

Hanamaru rolled her eyes, it would be Yoshiko to put them back to point A. Luckily though, Riko did hang onto those words from Hanamaru. Riko took a step back, straightening her pose to seem taller before the teens,

“I’ll let you stay one night. Just, you have to stay in one area so I can keep an eye on you three.”

All three girls brightened as they heard those words. They shared smiles with one another as if it were Christmas Day. That was before Yoshiko’s arm suddenly made it’s pain known once more.

Rolling back on the floor, Yoshiko held herself tighter. Both Hanamaru and Ruby gasped at the young girl as she simple looked back up at Riko,

“Y-You wouldn’t happen to have any medical supplies, would you?”

Before she could answer though, Hanamaru butted in,

“Wait, I thought you were supposed to bring the medical supplies?”

Yoshiko, who was still in pain, looked towards the ground,

“W-We were already too far along before I realized I forgot.”

Hanamaru gasped in shock,

“Wait! That’s why you had enough space to fill your bag with nightshade! What if something had happened to us out there? What would we have done then?”

Yoshiko closed her eyes, trying to think of a way to counter Hanamaru’s onslaught but she was correct, she had definitely screwed up her one job she was supposed to do,

“I’m sorry, okay! Besides, it’s not like you’re any better, Zuramaru! You’ve only been eating our food supplies rather than rationing it!”

With another loud gasp to fill the room, Yoshiko and Hanamaru began bickering with one another again, the scene looking very familiar to Riko. However, Ruby stayed silent as her friends tossed words back and forth. She was drained from their journey, not at all having the energy to interfere with their battle.

Rather than listening to a couple of teenagers argue in front of her, Riko raised her voice to cut them off,

“Stop! Look, I have some medical supplies I can spare you as well as a ration of food, so don’t fight please.”

Both Hanamaru and Yoshiko side eyed one another before whispering out their gratitudes.

“Except, you’ll have to show me what’s in your bags first. So I know you’re clean”

Now, with all three girls looking at one another, they slipped off their backpacks one by one. First showing her backpack was Yoshiko. Filled to the brim with a combination of multiple different herbs ranging from nightshade to mandrake’s. Despite her pailing face at her slow blood loss, Yoshiko was sure to raise her hands in a peace sign over her right eye before deepening her voice,

“As a fallen angel I must ensure I have the proper ingredients to create my rituals.”

“Okay? What about you?”

Riko looked towards Hanamaru next as she jumped in fright. Bringing her bag forward, Hanamaru showed hers, nearly empty with mikans and other assortments of fruit scattered in-between.

Such a view filled Riko’s mouth with saliva. She hadn’t seen any fruits in so long, only meats and the occasional berries that You would find on her outings when she was still around, which had been a while. It was tempting not only to her, but the idea of giving it to You. She was still having trouble with anything besides eating meat, and mikans were her favorite. It would surely be a great temptation into bringing her a balanced diet.

Striking a bargain, Riko lowered herself to eye level with the group of girls,

“How about this, I patch up your injured friend here myself if you give me the rest of your mikans?”

Hanamaru looked into her bag, eyeing her three mikans she had left. She too had such a liking for the fruit,

“B-But mikans aren’t native to our village, zura. This is the first time we’ve seen any in ages. Can’t I give you the strawberries?”

Riko debated her choices, while strawberries were okay, You loved mikans with her entire heart. It was sure to jog something in her memory or at least be a nice snack. Shaking her head, Riko opened her mouth to counteract but Yoshiko spoke up first,

“Zuramaru, you literally ate ten when we were at the garden and five on our way here. I think you can spare the final three for me!”

Ruby, finally added to the conversation as well with a sad smile,

“It’s okay, Hanamaru. I’m sure my sister will let us go out more if she sees we all got back in one piece.”

Hanamaru looked between her bag as well as her friends, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“I can’t believe she has to actually think about this,”

Riko announced. Yoshiko and Ruby panned out,

“We can.”

Finally, Hanamaru made up her mind. With a thrust of her bag forward, Hanamaru closed her eyes and displayed her final three mikans to Riko,

“Just take them! And please, save Yoshiko’s life, zura!”

“It’s Yohane!”

Riko smiled as she dug her hands into the bag, grabbing at the fruits. You was going to be excited to see those again, or at least she could hope. Riko was already beginning the plan on saving the seeds, keeping the fruits around the aquarium for when things were back to normal. With the fruits in her hands, Riko finally turned to Ruby,

“So, what about you? If they had medical and food, were you the one that was supposed to carry the weapons?”

Ruby shook her head. Riko hadn't known her for very long yet she could tell there was something missing behind the girls eyes as she followed the motions of unzipping her bag. Ruby showed Riko her backpack, only containing an assortment of sunflowers as well as their seeds and roots, all freshly picked.

“They’re for my parents’ grave. I took as much as I could so a lot of flowers would grow around where they’re going to be laid down tomorrow. It was always their favorite flowers to have around the house.”

Riko tried to look Ruby in the eyes, to see if she were telling the truth, but the way her head fell with her words, Riko didn’t need to pry any further. Instead, she finally sat up, placing her gun in the back of her pants before grabbing at her lamp,

“Follow me, I’ll take you three where you’ll be staying the night.”

All three girls got up, putting their backpacks on as they followed Riko’s light through the halls. While the heavy rain had stopped falling, lightning would still occasionally strike, frightening the trio. The strikes only kept Riko’s mind at just where You was as at though. Each turn down the halls were filled with nothing but emptiness.

Reaching their destination, Riko had decided the only way to keep an eye on them was to place the girls right across the hall from You, into the second half of the walrus exhibit. Considering the aquarium wanted a hall entirely for the walruses, they decided to build two separate rooms on both sides. Luckily they had glass openings above them, keeping the rain out yet the moonlight in to light the rooms just enough to see. Of course there were exits for the animals to go outside to suntan, but Riko and You long closed off those holes.

Riko guided the girls towards the door, almost getting to unlocking it before the squeaks of shoes could be heard running towards the group. Before she could even turn, Riko heard the teenagers scream out loud, all grabbing onto her back, before the shoes stopped right behind her.

Turning to the action with a bit of struggle from the girls’ grips, Riko was met with a strange sight as You only stood staring at the new guests with her head tilted, not becoming aggressive in any way as she was with Kanan or Mari. The trio all huddled against one another though, nearly stuck to the wall with fear.

Riko walked towards You, putting a hand on her shoulder,

“You, these are good guests this time. They’re staying in this room for the night, okay?”

You hummed in approval, already walking over towards the door to open it for the teenagers. The girls kept quiet as they saw You struggle to open the door at first with her padded palms losing their grip on the lock.

Holding the door, You grunted towards them to get in. All three girls looked at one another before Riko, who motioned them to go inside. They all stuck to the farthest side of the door as they stepped their way in, making sure to keep an eye on You as they passed her.

Once inside, all three girls set down their things, huddling together in front of one of the larger rocks the walruses used for relaxing. Riko stood at the door, giving instructions to You,

“Okay, go grab the medical supplies that we usually leave in your room and I’ll go put the mikans away. I’ll be back with some blankets and food for the kids. Keep an eye on them, okay?”

Riko brought her finger up to You as a way of confirming with her, and while it took a moment to understand, You shook her head before walking over towards the other room.

As Riko went to her office, all three girls spoke lowly to one another, slightly squinting their eyes at one another as Riko took their brightest light source,

“Dia is not going to be happy if we don’t come back by tomorrow night.”

Yoshiko was the first to speak up, Hanamaru nodded her head as she agreed with her,

“She’s right, zura. Maybe we should take a shortcut through the forest to get home faster before she notices how long we’ve been gone, zura.”

Ruby flinched at the idea,

“I-I don’t know Hanamaru. Cutting through the forest is what got us into this mess.”

There was no denying that fact. While all of the girls wondered how the outside world truly was after everything had shut down, none of them had ever really adventured so far. No one had even known the girls snuck out either.

Though the idea was frightening, Ruby really needed her parents to have those sunflowers at their resting ground, she couldn’t have it any other way. With such an idea brought to her friends though, they were quick to help in her last minute journey.

“Maybe we should get Dia a gift, like, an apology type of thing?”

Yoshiko spoke up with her idea.

“That would be great! We could say we just adventured a little past the perimeter for a gift because we wanted her to not be stressed out, zura!”

Ruby thought about it, her sister would still be upset she left without guards, especially now that she was even closer to being the next one in line to guide the village, but it could work if the gift was good enough. But the question was, what gift could be in the eyes of Dia?

“Technically it could work but the problem is, what could we get her?”

The girls fell silent. Hanamaru nor Yoshiko really knew anything about Dia besides her harsh exterior and Ruby just felt like everything she did upset her older sister in every way. All in a slump, the girls fell silent, instead looking around at just what they had gotten themselves into.

Riko soon made her way into the room though, hands filled with blankets, two lamps, as well as a plate she had of spare rabbit meat. You joined in right behind her with the medical supplies and of course her upbeat squeaking of shoes.

Nodding her head, motioning for Yoshiko to come forward, Riko put her contents onto the floor while grabbing at You’s supplies from her hands. She made a mental checklist of everything while organizing it by what was needed first.

“Okay, I don’t have any numbing cream, so you’re going to have to hold it in. I do have some antibiotics for you to take afterwards to lessen the chance of an infection though.”

Yoshiko gulped at that sentence as she tried to scoot away from Riko only for Hanamaru to be right behind her, inching her closer, with Ruby on the other side to corner her in.

Riko grabbed Yoshiko’s injured arm, taking note of its condition. Though the blood had long poured it’s way down her arm, the missing skin wasn’t very much. It could easily be stitched back together and she would be fine to leave by tomorrow if all went well.

Pulling out the needle and string, along with alcohol to clean the wound, Riko spoke up in an attempt to get the teenagers to stop staring so intensely at Yoshiko’s arm and it’s impending doom,

“So, how much longer do you three need to travel to get back home? I can’t imagine this one will be able to go far if she’s the one taking all the bullets.”

Yoshiko whimpered, turning her face away, as Riko lightly dabbed at the blood drying around her arm.

“We’re not sure. Our village is by the seaside but the garden we headed to was more towards the center of town so we kind of got lost.”

Ruby answered Riko’s question as the older girl hummed. She knew the destination they were going towards, as that shop was the pinnacle of greenery in all of Numazu. There was a time when she visited it, in hopes to pick up gardening, but she became too overwhelmed by such a large selection that she ultimately gave up before she could begin.

“Well, you’re in luck, the beach is only about a mile out from here. Can you three get home from there?”

Hanamaru nodded her head,

“Yes, ma’am. Luckily you can see the school from all sides of the beach on this island, zura. If we follow that, we can get back home!”

Pausing, Riko suddenly remembered that same phrase before.

“School? As in the Uranohoshi school? Does that mean you know-”

“Arm! My arm!!”

Riko noticed she had her rag paused directory onto Yoshiko's wound. Quickly taking it off, Riko apologized as her brain had gone elsewhere,

“Ah, sorry.”

“Do we know who?”

Ruby questioned Riko but before she could answer, she stopped her sentence. Kanan and Mari weren’t supposed to be out or even caught, there was a chance they could be looked down upon or taken down a notch in the hierarchy of the village they rested at. Clearing her throat, Riko switched conversations,

“No one. I think I’m getting my schools mixed up. Also, Yoshiko, don’t scream.”

“Why would I- KYAAA!”

Riko pierced the needle into Yoshiko’s skin, beginning her stitching process as fast as she could to not keep the pain going on any longer than it needed to. Biting at her knuckle, Yoshiko let her head fall forward onto Hanamaru’s chest. Hanamaru patted Yoshiko’s head as the young girl tried her best to mask her whimpers.

“So, umm, who is that?”

Ruby asked as she looked towards You. You was sitting right behind Riko, leaning her back on the red-haired girl as her feet wiggled back and forth, clearly entranced by her rounded feet. Riko continued her stitchings though, not looking up, as she already knew who Ruby was referring to,

“That’s You, my girlfriend. She was bitten, but it’s okay, she hasn’t gotten a taste for blood yet nor is she aggressive towards anyone non-hostile. I’m in the process of curing her.”

Ruby awed at such determination. Yoshiko, despite being in pain, spoke up,

“W-Why is she in that costume?”

“Oh, because in the first week she was very snappy. She’s different now though,”

“Then why keep her in it, zura? She looks, well, weird.”

Hanamaru questioned Riko and while she finished her last stitching, she couldn’t help but feel ridiculed under the teenager’s glances,

“What are you talking about? She looks cute in it! When we were in school she actually worked part time at this very aquarium and I remember seeing her in it all the time. It brings back good memories.”

All of the girls avoided eye contact after that explanation and though they wouldn’t say it, Riko realized it did make her seem kind of weird.

“L-Look, just don’t tell anyone about this, okay? Let’s just keep the reason being I am safely proofing her for others.”

All the girls nodded their heads as they had no room to judge so long as Riko kept a roof over their head for the night. Riko began putting back all of her medical supplies, cleaning her area for the night.

As everything was wrapped up, she handed Yoshiko a nearly empty bottle of pills.

“These are as much as I can spare but it should keep you going if you keep your infection clean. Don’t dirty the wound, change the bandages at least three times a day while it’s still healing, and try not to pick at it when it becomes itchy.”

Yoshiko took the bottle of pills, tears still streaming down her face as her pain radiated all through her arm.

Riko stood up and You was quick to follow as well. With such a fast motion, all the girls flinched backwards as if the grey-haired girl had suddenly changed her mind in being friendly towards them.

“It’s okay, she won’t do anything to you all. Look, You, this is Yoshiko.”

Riko motioned her hand to Yoshiko, who froze at being put on the spot. You looked between Riko’s hand as well as Yoshiko’s head.

Stepping forward, You reached out her hand just as Riko had. As Yoshiko closed her eyes with the gap between them closing, she let out a tiny scream when she felt a touch. With a hand patting the bun on her head, Yoshiko peeked an eye open as she saw an entranced You. You let out a series of noises, almost as if she were trying to say something, anything. Riko, who was behind them all, stared at You, putting her hand up towards the girls to get them all to hold still for a moment.

“K-Ko.”

The room ran silent with You’s word. Quickly pulling You by her shoulders while turning her to be face to face, Riko held onto the suit,

“Y-You, did you just- no, wait. S-Say that again?”

Riko tried to calm her wavering voice as she held onto You.

“Ko.”

With a smile to break on her face, Riko pulled You into a hug as she lightly jumped up and down. All the younger girls watched and though they were confused, it seemed that it was best to keep quiet and let them have their moment.

Grabbing ahold of You’s hand, Riko immediately got into talking,

“This is amazing! I-I have to document this, no, I have to trace the strand that did this and build upon that! If your speech is already being repaired, that means your body should slowly be at it too!”

Before she could begin going on a tangent though, Riko let out a squeal of happiness, as she didn’t realize how much closer to the end she was getting. That was until she remembered just where she was at. Riko coughed into her hand before composing herself in front of the three girls,

“Ah, sorry about that. It’s just been a while since I’ve heard her speak actual words, or at least something that sounds like it could be one.”

Ruby waved her hands in front of herself to reassure Riko,

“Oh, no, it’s fine. We won’t judge, right guys?”

Hanamaru and Yoshiko both shook their heads, more happy that You was further away from them in Riko’s hands. With a smile on her face, Riko looked back at You. She had that glimmer in her eyes again, small but ever so present.

Tugging her along by her hand, Riko began talking to You,

“Well, come on. Let’s get your bandages changed now,”

Turning back to the girls, Riko leaned down to grab the spare lamp,

“You three can stay here for as long as you want. I’m going to take You to the room across so just tap on the glass or something if you need me. The rabbit meat is cold since I can’t get a fire started indoors but it was freshly cooked this morning so it’s fine to eat.”

With all of them nodding their heads, Riko made her way towards the other room, not stopping her conversation with You for even a moment.

The three teenagers all got themselves situated with the food and blankets Riko had brought them. Considering the place was still foreign to them, they all decided to huddle against one another for comfort. The lamp left in the room lit up just enough for them to see each other, as well as Riko and You in the other.

The top of You’s costume was off, as well as the white shirt she had beneath it, leaving her in only the makeshift binder around her chest. Riko was slowly taking off the bandages on her shoulder, eyeing the wound closely to check for any issues. With You’s back towards them, the trio could see Riko talking, even smiling at some things, as she continued her job almost as if the situation were normal.

“She’s kind of weird, don’t you think?”

Yoshiko was the first to speak, eyeing the couple as she laid her hands behind her head. Hanamaru scooted closer as she agreed,

“I can’t lie, it’s a bit odd.”

Ruby glanced between the girls before at You and Riko. Sure, their situation was off putting, but it was somehow sweet at the same time.

“I don’t know, I think it’s nice that she cares so much. It’s hard to find that kind of love and dedication anywhere. You is pretty lucky to have Riko if you ask me.”

With all the girls looking back once more at the laughs Riko shared with You as she spoke with her, as well as the tilted head glances You would give back, they could see that love was definitely all Riko had in her heart for You.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Ruby.”

* * *

Riko waved towards all of the girls as she stood on the road with You by her side. Before the trio’s departure though, Riko was sure to give the group all one canned food of their choosing to take on the journey with them. Of course, certain ones were restricted, especially the good ones, but Riko was sure to give the kids some protein packed beans as an extra parting gift.

“Have a safe trip!”

All three girls hurriedly walked towards the beach pointed-direction Riko set them in while waving back. Turning around, Riko guided You back into the gates before closing them.

Standing at the closed entrance, You looked back at Riko and the fence before attempting to jumble out a word once more,

“K-Ko?”

Riko, who had already taken a couple steps away, looked back at the sad You,

“Yeah, Yoshiko and the others are leaving. They have to get back to their village if they want to make that funeral by tonight.”

Letting out a sigh, You followed Riko as they walked side by side back to their place. Of course the dejected behavior of You didn’t go unnoticed by Riko but she couldn’t force the kids to stay with her. The only thing Riko could think to do was lightly bump their shoulders together as they continued on.

Walking through the doors, Riko shut them behind them. She had fixed their generator the moment the crack of dawn hit, leaving her the rest of the day to stuff herself in her office.

Riko wanted a day off, in fact she just wanted to sleep for a week to catch up on the lost hours of her nights. But reality was hitting her fast. She was at 14 days. Meaning You only had 15 left before her chances were over.

Yes, You was making amazing progress, but when Riko changed her bandages that night, her blood still ran far darker than the average maroon red. Her skin barely stopped peeling within the last week, but no shade of color had returned. If anything, Riko had put her at a standstill. It was either all or nothing with the final couple of days.

As Riko walked her way into the office she resided in, she felt a quick breakfast could get her mind off of the stress of the final days. Grabbing at the mikans previously placed on her desk, Riko made her way towards her canned foods to see if there were any spam she could eat as the rabbit she had given the teenagers that night was all she had in protein.

Opening the cabinets, Riko’s eyes scanned the cans. Though she was missing three, Riko couldn’t help but feel another presence gone. Riko went down the mental list she had.

Spam, pinto beans, green peas, and even corn but one thing stood out. Something she kept hidden at the back of her cabinet behind a board that not even You had discovered yet: her fruit cocktail. The board was poorly put back into place, letting the victim of the crime see into the now empty hole there was. Clenching her fist, Riko huffed out,

“Those kids stole from me.”

Turning to face You, Riko said it even louder,

“You, those freaking kids stole my fruit!”

You backed up as Riko got more into her space. Riko was furious, she had given those kids everything they needed only for them to take one of the best things she ever had.

Before she could get worked up though, Riko brought her fingers to her temple as she tried to calm herself down,

“It’s okay, Riko. They’re just kids. Calm yourself.”

Riko repeated the words back to herself as she took deep breaths. She should’ve expected something like that would happen when she took their fruits but that didn’t mean it still wasn’t upsetting.

Not bothering with the cans anymore, Riko just grabbed the three mikans they had as she sat back by the bed in her office. Motioning for You to follow, You squeaked her way right beside Riko as she watched her peel away at the fruit.

With her hands busy, it brought a sudden thought to Riko,

“Maybe you do look weird in that suit, You.”

Leaning forward, Riko got a better look at You. While the costume was adorable and reminded her of a better time, it had to be torturing with how hot it was. Before she knew it, Riko’s fingers were already at the back of You’s zipper.

The process of getting You out of the suit was far more easy than getting in. You now sat beside Riko in her dirtied white shirt along with her casual jeans. While Riko didn’t want You in a white shirt, as it was easy to stain, it was just about one of the few clothing she had left since Riko had torn her other shirt when the sailor was bitten.

Now as they relaxed on the bed, Riko split the mikan in her hand between the both of them. Eating one slice while giving You the other, their routine began.

With just one taste, You was desperately trying to eat another piece. The sight of You attempting to get more into Riko’s space made her realize: maybe getting her fruit stolen wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen.

As Riko popped another piece of fruit into You’s mouth, she watched as she closed her eyes, savoring the taste. It was a nice change from her usual confused, or even blank, look. Facial expressions were a good sign in Riko’s book.

Figuring they had time, Riko asked the question that had been on her mind since You’s dejected behavior with the teenagers leaving arose,

“You, do you remember when we said we wanted kids someday? Is that why you're sad they left?”

Riko didn’t bother waiting for an answer but for once You didn’t tilt her head in question but rather waited for a response. She knew when Riko brought her voice in a soft tone with an uplifting end that she was going to get into something really passionate. At the first listen, it was nothing but mumbles into You’s ears but with each passing day, You could understand the meaning behind Riko’s words.

Giving You another mikan to eat, Riko sadly smiled.

“Well, not that it could ever happen now, but I remember when we were ready for that next step…”

* * *

“Riko, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you love me?”

You walked towards the shared couch her and Riko had placed in the center of their living room as the question left her lips. It was cold that December morning and in You’s hands she carried them both cups of hot coffee. Riko was already warming up the covers on the couch while reading to pass the time, now she was just waiting for You to help her warm them up faster.

Without glancing up from the novel, Riko held out her hand for the cup while answering back,

“Right now you’re at a nine since you keep leaving your clothes on the floor. Why do you ask?”

You whispered out a quick, “Careful”, as she passed the drink over. Getting herself situated under their covers slowly, You’s freezing feet attempted to find Riko’s warmth as the red-haired girl shivered with the incoming coldness.

“I, uh, I was just thinking about stuff. Doesn’t matter though. What do you wanna watch?”

Searching the blankets, You went to grab at the remote but not before Riko quickly dived for it, cutting her off from changing the subject,

“Hold on, You. You never ask stuff unless something is bothering you.”

Lightly laughing, You scratched at the back of her neck. She wasn’t ever good at hiding things around Riko.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I-I don’t think right now is a good time to talk about it though, you know, with me still being set to take the seas soon.”

As You went to grab the remote, Riko raised it higher,

“Now is always a good time to talk about stuff. I won’t judge, I promise.”

Setting herself back down, You sighed. Riko was not going to let it go, meaning she could do nothing but give in and tell what was on her mind.

“Well, how long have we known each other?”

Tilting her head, Riko questionably answered,

“Umm, about 7 years now? Why?”

You played with her fingers and while Riko just wanted to grab her by her shoulders and make her speak, she was patient as she waited for You to continue on,

“And we’ve been dating for 5 of those years.”

Riko slowly nodded her head, still not processing what You was trying to get at,

“Yes, that we have.”

“And we’ve also been living here for almost two years. I guess what I’m trying to get at is, wouldn’t it be nice to maybe have something else to grow with us within a couple years or so?”

Riko still couldn’t understand what You was getting at, they had talked about animals in their first month of living in their apartment, but that conversation didn’t go far after they both realized their apartment didn’t accept pets.

“You, we can’t get an animal. Unless you're implying we get a fish? I don’t think I would mind one, I’ve always wanted an orange one, you know, to livin up the place-”

“I want a kid.”

Riko, who had already had the perfect fish in mind to sit on the kitchen counter, soon stopped talking. With a baffled look, the young girl repeated the words,

“A kid?”

“Yes.”

“A living, breathing, human that we are responsible for until we die?”

“Yup.”

Riko looked at You for a while. There had to be some type of follow up after her words, yet You never broke eye contact as she waited for Riko’s response,

“I, uh, I think I need to think about that.”

The room felt very constricting at that moment. You could see it written across Riko’s face, the question was a bit too big for a lazy sunday. Feeling like she had put Riko on the spot, You realized her mistake. Waving her hands, You tried to reel back her statement,

“Wait! I-It’s not like we have to get a kid tomorrow or something! I just wanted to start thinking about it with you, so that we’re on the same page. It takes a long time to do the process anyways-”

“You looked it up?”

You stopped moving about as she noticed Riko’s face brighten up,

“Well, yeah,”

Settling down, You felt like now she was the one being cornered,

“I’ve always wanted someone to come home to, and now I have you. But I can’t help but feel like you get tired of being alone too. I mean, I’m gone for weeks at a time while you come to an empty home everyday.”

Taking a deep breath, Riko knew the conversation had to be done. While she would rather have had more prep, there had to be an answer.

Grabbing at You’s hands, both girls were wrecks with the temperature of the room doubling tenfold, but they had to get their thoughts off their chest,

“I’m not saying ‘no’ to the idea of a kid, because honestly I’ve always wanted a family with you too, I just think we need a little more time to grow into our lives here. But, like you said, maybe within another year or two I wouldn’t mind us looking into the process a bit more.”

You held onto Riko’s hands just a little tighter as she heard every word,

“So, you’re not shutting down the idea of a child?”

Riko smiled,

“No, You, I would love to start a family with you.”

With that, You’s smile burst onto her face. As she lightly jumped up to hug Riko, the young girl quickly put out her hands,

“Wait! Coffee!”

Realizing the near mistake she almost made, You quickly got up, grabbing both her own and Riko’s coffee to put onto the floor. As soon as it was out of the way, You jumped into Riko’s already outstretched arms.

Giggles filled the room as the idea of another life running around their home excited You to no end. She could imagine it now, taking the shorter destination routes all to be able to watch their child grow, even considering taking the local jobs just to not be away for such a long time like her father always was. She still was in contact with the boss of the local aquarium afterall.

And though the idea was a bit scary to Riko, she couldn’t imagine anyone else in her lifetime she’d want to take that next step with. Even if her knowledge on children was about slim to none, if You was with her, they could figure it out together.

Little was it known that the impending virus would soon put an axe through those plans within the year, never to be brought up again until the vulnerable nights of when everything was changing too fast for them to grasp.

But for a moment, they were happy and it was all they could truly ask for.


	4. I'm Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I perish? No. Just been a busy month for me lol. Anyways I’ve delivered on the 4th chapter and am working towards the 5th now. Also a fair warning: the ending gets a little spicy (as in a bit nsfw but like not that detailed or anything) so if you aren’t into that then at the second page break when it goes to a memory just read a paragraph or two and you’ll get the gist of what’s going on lol. Anyways, as always, Yousoro and out (๑>◡╹)ゞ

A slight wind breeze blows the white translucent curtains aside, allowing the scenery of the sunlit ocean to make its appearance from the opened windows. The day was at its early start, letting the morning air sweep through the noses of those who were awake to bask in it.

Cooling sand made its way between the toes of a very patient girl waiting by the sea side. A smile was brought to her lips as her sleeping beauty had awoken.

Riko wiped her eyes, yawning out in exhaustion, as her sight adjusted before her. She had just woken up by the large opened windows, allowing her to see not only the light of a new day but the girl with her back towards her. The curly grey locks wafting in the wind were a give away of who stood by the shorelines.

Riko got up, pulling the falling robe above her shoulders as she kept her eyes on You. She did nothing yet her stance stood strong, nothing like how she had been recently.

Though the wind was slow, it still blew loose strands around Riko’s vision.

Her feet met the sand, slowly going forward. There was no weight to her steps, only the action of moving. No pain either, just the feeling of being free. Hearing her come closer, You turned around to greet Riko.

A soft smile from the girl she loved was all it took for Riko to realize just how comforting an action could be.

“Hey, there you are, sleepy head.”

Riko had so many things to ask. However, her throat was parched and it felt as if she had to force every syllable, but she had to get the words out,

“What are you doing out here?”

You took a step forward, bringing her hand up to pull back Riko’s loose hairs from her face,

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

As Riko could see You without anything in her way, the young girl looked entirely at peace with everything around her. Yet, where she was wasn’t where Riko wanted her. Not when there was a creeping reality of the fluorescent lit aquarium lingering in the back of her mind.

Grabbing at the hand stroking her cheek, Riko held it close to herself. Her voice wavered out,

“I’m sorry, You. I don’t mean to keep you here forever. I’m trying as fast as I can to get you home but, I-I don’t know if I can do it anymore.”

You only smiled at Riko. Her presence felt nothing but gentle and as she raised her other hand to wipe the tear cascading down Riko’s face, she lightly laughed out,

“Hey, don’t worry about me, okay? I’m fine. Just take care of yourself first.”

The playful laugh at the end of You’s words made the young girl’s heart race. She could feel the reality of life coming back. Weight began to push itself down upon her. Struggling, Riko tried to keep the world from falling apart,

“No! I don’t want to lose you. I-I can’t, not when I’ve come so far.”

You’s smile never broke from her face. Perhaps it was a way of letting her love know she was happy where she was.

“People are never really gone if you still hold onto so many memories of them.”

* * *

_Gasp_

Riko shot up from her desk, hands flying at the surface as she tried to grasp onto what was going on. Her senses all came back in a flash, letting her back pain, as well as eyestrain, be known from her late nights working.

Riko’s eyes scanned just at where she was at, only to be met with pure white. Grabbing the paper stuck to her forehead, Riko took in a breath of air to calm herself.

She had been up until the crack of dawn working out new formulas for so long that she couldn’t even recall deciding to rest. Time was of an essence.

As Riko adjusted the things around her, she took a look at her journal centered before her.

She knew what the date was, but if she dwelt on it, it would only hurt more. The only thing that fell from her lips though was a barely audible,

“Day 18.”

Getting up, Riko glanced over to see You still sat on the bed as she did the night before. Ever since she had become much more calmer, Riko had allowed her to freely roam. Ironically, she did not do so often even though she tried escaping the room as soon as she could open a door. No, rather You stayed by Riko’s side through every night and every morning.

The thought of just what went on in You’s head was always something Riko questioned. She would stare for hours at just about anything. The chipping walls couldn’t be that entertaining.

At the current moment though You’s eyes rested closed as she had dozed off sometime during the night, possibly morning. Riko didn’t glance very far past her desk when she was working so she could only guess.

Getting up from her seat, Riko walked over towards You. The soft rise and fall of her chest let her know You was enjoying her slumber, however the day had to start. Shaking her shoulder, Riko attempted to wake You. Eyes fluttering open, blue eyes met with a honey hue.

“Hey, sleepy head.”

Riko smiled as she patted You’s bed head. You only groaned out though as she faced away from Riko. Rather than bothering her more, Riko started her morning.

Her routine went into play as it usually did each day. Her feet brought her all across the aquarium halls, letting her fingers run across its slowly chipping surface. Riko went around, picking up anything out of place that You might’ve bumped into while she was wandering around.

It never takes long to check the building as Riko soon found herself outside with You following closely behind. Without the squeaking of You’s shoes to warn her where she was, they tend to bump into each other often when the young girl would turn around. Of course, You doesn’t mind but Riko does when she’s carrying their daily food.

As they go about their time, Riko tends to whatever she can. She grabs any rainfall buckets that might’ve filled throughout the night as well as any animals trapped in the nearby cages.

Though it is springtime, the local animals haven’t been visiting Riko often. Perhaps it was due to the fact that if they were to walk into her home, they would be signing their death certificate.

Riko could only feel disappointment creep up her spine as lately she had been walking back nearly empty handed each day. Her backup food storage was only lasting so long and You was in no shape or condition to go hunting. Meaning she’d have to go out soon. Not exciting at all, especially if she had to leave You on her own.

Riko trailed her way inside, mentally planning her day. It was day 18. The longer she held off on implementing more test antidotes, the faster she was going to lose You. Every second was a wasted moment.

Yet, there was always a cost to rushing into things before they were ready.

Riko focused intensely on the tasks she had set out for her day. In her mind ran twenty different things she needed to do. First thing, try a new trial.

Riko made her way into the office, looking at a couple of the petri dishes she had left out the night before. She could already see which ones were a failure already, however one stood out. Though most of the containers had black blood still in their dish, one was a crisp red.

Stepping forward, Riko grabbed it, already making her way towards her desk where her microscope resided.

As she put it under the light, she could see the black cells that once ate at You’s humanity had disappeared. Now all that was left was the healthy bloodstream.

Riko wanted to cry, no, she wanted to scream. This was the first thing to just about ever go right in a long time. The previous trials just made You’s current blood withstand the virus, never fighting back. Now she was at a game changer.

Pushing herself from her desk, Riko went where the missing container was, grabbing the name that was stuck right in front of it. ‘Azul’ was scribbled onto the torn apart tape. Riko had named each trial after something related to You, usually matching the color blue since her eyes were always the one thing that stood out the most to Riko.

Swooping her supplies into her hands, Riko grabbed at everything she used to recreate the formula one more time.

It was her only light in the dark and she knew she had to take it.

Riko put down everything at her desk, organizing it by the order she mixed the ingredients before. Her supplies were running beyond short, but she had just enough to manage one minor dosage, if she was lucky that’s all it would take.

With the stirs of everything going on, You only watched from the bed. Though at first it would seem she was zoning out in Riko direction, through her crystal blue eyes they could begin to focus. No longer did You see the blurs of faces, but rather she could recognize the soft red hairs flowing in front of Riko’s face as she focused on measuring the liquids.

‘Riko’

Something in You wanted to get up, push the hair in front of Riko’s face away, but all she could do was stare. The numbness in her body still kept her entranced, yet the urge to be near Riko grew each day.

There was no single moment You could remember seeing Riko, just a slow awakening that brought her into light each day.

As Riko finally put in the test tube into the vortex mixer, allowing the machine to mix the vial of liquids, the young girl got out the last syringe she had left. She only took three syringes from the last hospital she had been to, as before everything that had happened she believed You would have been by her side for another supply pickup.

Luckily Riko didn’t have to worry about You fighting back like the first time. Though Riko wasn’t entirely sure what she had given You in the first dosage, whatever it was calmed her down tremendously. She thanked whoever was writing in the journal first that discovered how to calm the anger down in the infected. If she didn’t have that, goodness knows where she would be now.

As Riko set down everything she needed on her desk, it would take but a few minutes for the antidote to be prepared. Enough time to talk You down. Though she never showed it, Riko knew deep down You wasn’t the biggest fan of needles. It was never the puncture part, as it was just a prick to the skin, but rather the pain that followed when being injected. As You always described it, it was as if you could feel the medicine enter your body, flowing through your bloodstream and seeping into your muscle. Though it’s supposed to help, it always hurts like hell the next day.

Riko got up, walking towards You as her blue eyes followed Riko’s every movement. Riko sat down next to You, both of them leaning against the wall, before grabbing her wrist to bring her hand near her but also discreetly checking her pulse for any signs of panic.

A strange fact Riko had learned about the infected was that they weren’t truly dead, but in fact still had a pulse. Or perhaps it was just You considering she was at a half-alive half-dead situation. Of course no one would find out as no one dared to get near any of the infected, but it did leave a damper on Riko’s heart if that was the fact. No matter how clouded their vision was of reality, there was still a person inside them.

With just a slightly elevated pulse, most likely from You seeing the syringe being unwrapped, Riko wrapped her fingers around You’s hand.

They were rough, yet comforting.

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m just going to give you a little shot. If I did everything right, it should be the last one, okay?”

Riko kept her hands stroking You’s as she said her words.

The last treatment she gave You was so rushed it barely had any exceptional results, besides You’s speech being barely repaired and her ability to take orders better. Past that though, there was still something missing.

As Riko glanced at her watch, she saw the time was up.

Getting up, Riko went for the antidote as she made her way back to her desk.

Carefully observing the tube for any unmixed contents, the results looked safe. Riko’s syringe went into the top, taking the small amount of liquid in as she hoped for the best. There was no use in praying, if that worked then You wouldn’t be in this situation now.

As Riko brought the syringe over towards You, the young girl’s eyes followed the sharp needle closely.

Riko sat down in her previous spot, flicking the bubbles upwards to push them out of the needle.

Placing her hand on You‘s shoulder, Riko could feel how tense she was.

“It’s okay. I know it’s scary, but I need to do this. I just want you back to normal, like how we used to be.”

Riko’s fingers massaged at You’s tense shoulder, feeling it slowly relax into her touch. Though You’s face pleaded to stop, Riko couldn’t give in.

“Turn the other way, I’m going to do it quickly.”

You closed her eyes, facing forwards as she tilted her head to expose her shoulder.

Riko had been injecting every trial into the wound at where You was initially bit at, as she didn’t want to erupt anymore blood vessels.

Pulling aside the white shirt that rested on her shoulder, Riko took a look at the wound. It was near its healing point, meaning that despite how unsanitary conditions were, You was lucky at keeping healthy. It was mainly dried blood and other substances surrounding it. Its opening was still there though, just wide enough to insert her syringe. Pushing You’s wavy hair aside, Riko realized it was getting a bit long. Never did You like it even slightly past her shoulders.

‘I’ll cut it when she’s back.’

Promising herself that, Riko inserted the syringe, quickly pushing in the antidote before placing her finger over the opened skin.

Of course You whined at the shot, as she did with the others, but her sounds of displeasure soon dragged on as her face contorted in pain.

You pushed Riko’s hand aside, placing her own over her shoulder, as if to shield it, as her head fell downwards.

Before Riko could see what was wrong on You’s face, the young girl pulled her feet inwards, curling herself into a ball, as her whines started to grow louder.

Riko’s heart started to race with how fast their situation was turning at the blink of an eye. She hadn’t thought of any possible side effects to happen but now that she was seeing it she almost felt like an idiot for not thinking of it first. It was no doubt You was already days into turning, that was why nothing happened in the first couple trials as she was still more human than not. Things were different now.

Scooting closer to You, Riko moved aside her messy hair from her face to gauge her pain levels based off of her reaction. The young girl’s face was entirely red as her eyes squeezed shut, only small tears to be seen from the sides of her eyes. Her face read nothing but displeasure.

You’s hands moved from her shoulder though, down to hug her body as she let her head rest on her knees. There wasn’t a way for You to truly get out anything as the only thing to escape from her lips were gasps of air that felt like a stab to the lung each time.

No longer could she hold herself up as You leaned into Riko, letting her head drop to her lap.

Riko placed her hands on You’s forehead, gauging her temperature only to realize it was far higher than she had ever felt. Most days You was cold as ice, a far contrast to the burning rooms they were in each summer day. With how hot she was getting now, Riko almost preferred their old ways.

Pressing firmly on the parts You held closest to herself, Riko tried speaking to her,

“T-Tell me where it hurts, I think I can work from that if you talk to me, You.”

Riko pleaded but You continued her groans of agony with every press at Riko’s hands. Riko’s eyes began to tear up as she lifted her hands away from You, stopping the more pain she was bringing her,

“Come on, You. I can help you, I-I just need you to talk to me. Say something, anything.”

You only let out more whines as she turned more into Riko’s lap, clenching her fingernails into her own skin to distract herself from the pain. Riko could feel the heat rising in You much more as her body wasn’t handling the dosage as well as she had predicted.

Riko could see the pain You was in. Her blue eyes were shut off from the world as her soft whimpers hid in the lap of her lover, but Riko couldn’t do anything. If anything, it was entirely her fault for putting You through that, through everything in general.

Riko slouched over, resting her head on You’s fluffy hair as her words started the choke in her throat,

“I’m so sorry. I should have waited, I should have tested it more but all I’m doing is rushing into things. And now, I don’t even know how to fix this.”

Riko ran her fingers through her You’s hair. The comfort of being there was all Riko could provide. The aching girl turned up to face Riko, and though her face was painted red, You attempted to speak,

“K-Ko.”

Riko looked down upon You as she said her words. Lightly giggling out, Riko let her tears begin their decent,

“Yoshiko and the others left, remember?”

You only shook her head though. Reaching her finger up, slightly shaking from pain, You gently placed it into Riko’s cheek,

“R-Ri. Ri..ko”

Riko stared in confusion, and though it took a moment, her eyes widened. You wasn’t mumbling out nonsense, she was saying her name. Something she hadn’t heard fall from her lips in such a long time. The overflow of emotions brought giggles bursting through Riko’s chest and as her eyesight was filled with tears, Riko whispered back,

“Yeah, that’s me. I-I’m Riko.”

Running her fingers through You’s hair once more, You closed her eyes.

It was a long journey through the night that Riko stayed awake for. You didn’t fall asleep for a while. Constantly through the night You would groan in pain, shifting her position or simply grabbing onto parts of her body that were in the most pain.

Riko could do nothing but apologize every moment she could. There were far too many regrets after seeing what she had done.

She had put You through possibly the worst time of her life, and the tortured girl knew it was Riko doing it.

Sighing out, Riko laid her head back against the wall behind her. You’s breathing had become stable yet her body still burned beneath her fingertips.

Riko closed her eyes tightly, repeating her words from earlier in the day,

“Day 18.”

Gulping, her voice cracked,

“April 17th. Happy birthday, You.”

* * *

“Tah-dah! Happy birthday, Riko!”

You stood before Riko holding out a pocket knife with a badly wrapped leaf tied into a bow on top of it. They were in their room, as well as Riko’s office, as You finally came in after being out the entire day. She knew Riko needed her space from time to time and You did enjoy wandering the halls to pass time.

They had just barely begun living in their new home at the aquarium for a couple months since hell broke out around the world. Their appearances had changed a bit from not living their lives as before. You’s hair had grown past her shoulders while Riko’s hair was still as long as ever. Tying it in a bun was her best option each day.

Riko looked at You as her excitement radiated off of her before glancing down at her own gift. Riko tried her hardest to smile but it was difficult.

It wasn’t You to cause her inner turmoil but rather Riko wasn’t very fond of what You was trying to give her. Riko had told You many times that she didn’t want any weapons, as all they did was destroy, but with how many scavengers were still around, it was any wonder why You thought of the idea.

Grabbing at the gift, Riko eyed it a bit more, taking a look at it in finer detail. It was a blade sharpened to the touch. At its base was a carved in music note, revined to ensure no splinters damaged the holder’s hands. You bounced up and down as she eyed Riko’s reaction.

Knowing it was coming eventually, Riko stood up before wrapping her arms around You as she rested her head on her shoulder,

“Thank you so much, You. I’ll be sure to bring it along when we go on more outings.”

Before stepping back, Riko was sure to place a quick kiss onto You’s lips before eyeing the pocket knife more. It was made with love, and if You gave it to her then she was going to love it.

You, however, slipped it from Riko’s fingers as she flicked it open.

“There are plenty of uses for it besides battle! Like you can cut food with it, or even cut your hair!”

With that, You grabbed at her longer hair and slit through it with one slice. It cut through like butter however Riko couldn’t help but giggle. The extremely smug You now had a lopsided haircut sloping from short to long. Grabbing the pocket knife from her hand, Riko changed their positions as she sat You in the chair now.

“I think I’ll keep using the scissors for our hair, but very nice example, You.”

Grabbing at the pair of scissors from her cup where she kept her pens at, Riko went by and began evening out You’s impulsive haircut. She never did like long hair so cutting it whenever she got tired of it was pretty common. The first time Riko had seen You do that she nearly screamed in terror, now it was almost a tradition.

“I guess we were due for a haircut soon, don’t you think?”

You hummed in agreeance as Riko went by and began to slowly measure out and snip off the longer pieces. With You no longer swimming in her free time, it gave her hair its chance to restore itself, leaving soft curls in its place over rough ones.

With it back to its short length once more, Riko took a step back as she looked at her masterpiece, looking just like how it did before everything. She should’ve been a hairdresser. Fluffing up You’s hair, Riko cheerfully announced,

“There you go! I think I did a good job.”

You grabbed at the ends of her hair, seeing it was back to its old length once more. However, an appreciation didn’t slip from her lips,

“I’m sorry I don’t have a good gift, Riko.”

You’s voice rang sadly in Riko’s ears. Ideally, many things weren’t right around the world, but it didn’t matter if she still had You by her side.

Reaching her arms around her, Riko laid her head atop of You’s,

“Hey, don’t be sorry. You’re already the greatest gift I could ever think of.”

You turned around, eyeing Riko to see if there were any lies to her words but she only smiled at You.

Riko’s hands ran up You’s arms, stopping at just behind her ears as she pulled You into a kiss. Humming in surprise, You placed her fingers over Riko’s as they drummed against her slowly heating skin.

Rather than stopping there, You stood up from the chair. Slowly pushing Riko backwards, they haphazardly stumbled back to their bed.

The destination wasn’t far but it felt like an eternity to finally hit the edge with their feet. Though the landing was anything but graceful, both girls were not focused on that, but rather how long it had been since they felt each other on their skin. What better way to remember than with a special day.

You’s hands moved down Riko’s body as the young girl began to claw at You’s clothing, trying to find a way to get it off faster.

The only thing to fill the room were clothing being tossed around as well as the painted breaths of one another sounding as if they were running a marathon. No words needed to be said, in that moment it was up to their actions to convey how they felt.

With You’s lips moving down Riko’s neck, as well as her own hands reaching to where Riko needed her the most, the young girl was sure to whisper out one last time for the night against her lover’s heated skin,

“Happy birthday, Riko.”


	5. Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very long time no see. I’ve been working on this bad boy for about over a month now and the word count is 11k so good luck ! 
> 
> Also I feel like I should warn that we’re gonna be hitting the ending soon. Like 3 more chapters kind of soon. While I thought I could end it before the year ends, life made that hard lol. However, with more time to think about the end I actually included an extra chapter so yay for that lmao. I promise I'm going to end this though, I'm really not trying to drag it out further but let's just say there's a reason for everything  
> ( ◡‿◡ )
> 
> Anyways enough rambling, enjoy the biggest chapter so far, I loved writing it ((then again when do I not lol)). Yousoro and out (๑>◡╹)ゞ

Riko’s fingers gently set up the clear IV bag, letting it receive elevation from the chair used in far too many sleepless nights. The room she was in ran silent, only the rummaging of Riko securing the storage of water, along with You’s soft breathing, filled the empty space between them.

The nights before had been intensely rough on both girls' hands. You couldn’t focus on anything, her hands wouldn’t meet their target nor could she grip onto anything in such a weak state. She hadn’t even used her voice since the night Riko gave her the last test trial two days prior, the trial that felt as if it was ending all of Riko’s hard work. After such a result, Riko didn’t dare to try another one, but rather she could only wait until this one ran out of You’s system. The healing process was even longer though with every antibiotic gone, meaning it was truly You against the disease now.

Pessimism wasn’t in Riko’s name though. You had defied so many odds, she was just about one of the most functional of the entire infected bunch around the world, but with You only waking up twice for a brief moment between the last two days, doubt was beginning to creep into Riko’s mind.

With the IV bag in place, Riko crouched down beside You. She slept on the bed as Riko organized her makeshift hospital setup.

The syringe didn’t phase You when it slid into her skin, she didn’t even jump when Riko placed the tape harshly into place to keep it from moving. Riko needed it to stay there for a long time anyways.

You only slept as Riko moved about. The soft rise and fall of her chest let those know she was alive.

As the young girl finished her tasks at hand she stopped, letting herself get a look at her love. She was much more delicate than before, the bones around her collar protruded more as her cheeks were slightly sunk in. Her hair stuck to her face, baby hairs curling at their start of her scalp. Her lips were partially open, slightly chapped, while her skin had a light pink shade to it. The imperfections of her little scars were obvious, yet Riko was always the one to question how You could ever fall in love with her.

Touching You’s forehead with her hand, wiping a bit of the sweat that had gathered, Riko moved the hair from her face as she placed a kiss onto her. She was still warm but far less than she had been the night before.

Letting her hand run down her lover’s face, Riko smiled at You, as if she could see her,

“I’ll be back before you know it, okay? Just sit back and relax, by the time you wake up I’ll have food and even some painkillers. Don’t you worry.”

Getting up, Riko stretched slightly as she turned towards the door, already seeing her backpack ready to go by the entrance.

She had packed the night before after an intensely heated debate with herself over her situation. It couldn’t have been a worse time to run out of supplies and for You to be needing constant attention. It wouldn’t have happened, as Riko had rationed everything out, but yet with You needing more to sustain the human side of her, it was any wonder how the couple had lasted so long before.

With Riko moving towards the entrance, she found herself picking up her backpack. She adjusted it to her needs, ensuring an easy pull out of any weapons she might need. As the backpack was pulled by the straps, Riko paused for a moment.

This wasn’t just a simple journey she was taking with You again, but rather there was no room for failure in her task. She was all they both had. Whether she made it home that night would determine both of their futures.

Turning to face You one last time, Riko faked a smile. You couldn’t see her, but she also couldn’t show the fear across her face, despite it being laced into her words.

Raising her hand, Riko gave a slight wave to You’s unconscious body,

“I’ll see you later, You. Don’t get up, alright? Stay put, o-or i’ll be upset when I get back.”

Despite trying to sound serious, Riko’s voice failed her. Instead she rested her hand on the door frame, whispering out,

“Just, be okay. Please?”

* * *

Twigs scraped against Riko’s pants-covered ankles as she battled against the bushes guarding the shoreline. It would’ve been grand if she had asked her guests how she was supposed to get inside the so-called village. Everyone had told her to go to the ocean and follow the school, but Riko had no idea what to even do past that. She couldn’t even remember where the Inn they were talking about was nor how long she was supposed to be walking. She was on a timed schedule and she did not want to spend her day out in the open walking on the beach.

With that, Riko decided to do what was best, cut through the wooded area and head into the streets, hopefully remembering her way from there.

As Riko looked back, she could see the ocean fading into the distance as she went further into bushes leading towards the woods.

A village shouldn’t be so difficult to find.

As Riko found herself looking all around, swatting leaves from her vision, something finally came into view. It was a fence standing higher than she could reach, clearly failing against the test of time as it looked like nature was taking its course upon it.

It wasn’t so much as an entrance Riko was looking for, but it was something.

Beyond the fence was an open field of grass, with a few scattered smaller buildings kilometers into the distance, but not a single person was around that she could see.

As Riko ran her fingers across the wire, she trailed down the hopeful fence path leading to the main entrance she sought for.

Though she was only walking around the guarded area, she couldn’t help but think what she was doing was wrong. Obviously if they were a growing community, wouldn’t they be more friendly? It felt illegal to even be near a place so guarded and quiet.

Before Riko could question any further though, she spotted something to take those thoughts away. The fence had a slight disconnection in its link to the poles. It was obvious that it was man-made as whoever had done it attempted to put it back into place without much success.

Riko crouched down by the broken piece, pushing the fence outwards to see how wide the entrance was. Seeing it could easily fit a person, there wasn’t any doubt the hole must’ve been how the teenage trio escaped their home in the first place.

Sighing out Riko debating her options, she could either keep going and try to find out where the entrance of the village really was, while having to keep an eye out for an infected nearby, or she could sneak in and hope to blend in as she looked for any of her previous guests for help.

Knowing You would not be sitting still if she were to awaken soon, Riko decided to cut her options and just try to find Kanan and Mari as they would be the most helpful to her and her situation.

Pushing the fence open, Riko crawled into the entrance, trying her best to not alert anyone near.

Unfortunately, that was an issue. Two reasons: one, Riko couldn’t even remember the last time she had snuck through a fence. The last memory to pop into her head was of You trying to get her to jump over the Aquarium fence when they had first arrived. They usually avoided going through them for one specific reason You constantly warned about: the noise. Which was the second issue as once Riko was about mid-way through her intense struggle against the metal, she could hear the fence begin to screech from being pushed so far.

Attempting to get through the fence with as little noise as possible, Riko tried to slow down her breathing to really focus in on a way to get through simpler.

Pausing, her ears focused in. She slowly moved her arms through, gripping the grass beneath her. Almost as if she were a sloth, Riko got about to her upper torso before her hearing caught onto something from a horror film.

A small groan, just short of hearing distance, cut it’s way through Riko’s task at hand. It was all it took for her previous slow pace to go into overdrive.

Propelling herself forward, Riko forced herself more through the fence, immediately wishing she was a teenager again to escape faster. She could feel her backpack finally pushed through the opening, leaving her waist and below still on the other side in the target zone.

Twisting herself, Riko flipped herself onto her back in order to see just how much time she had left.

The bushes around were being pushed aside faster, the groans were turning into screams, surely calling attention to anyone near. Riko already knew she was done for as soon as the first yell pierced the skies, disturbing the nearby wildlife into fleeing the scene.

Rather than keeping quiet, Riko began to feel her whimpers escape her mouth as the fence kept catching onto every stray cloth from her pants, leaving tiny holes in its place.

Riko wasn’t sure if she should be more scared from the zombie or from getting tetanus. Or the soon third option that yelled towards her direction.

“Hey! Someones by the fence!”

Kicking at the ground faster, Riko could feel the tears building in her eyes. Now the plan of being stealthy was long gone and soon so was her only chance at surviving her day.

With just the laces of her shoes entangled in the wires, Riko looked up to see a woman running towards her from the other side of the fence. Her mouth foamed with blood merging along with her spit, dripping its way down onto her already torn apart shirt. Her eyes were bloodshot red as her skin ran pale with veins to protrude along her slender body.

Riko’s arm felt like it weighed nearly a ton as it stretched behind her, grazing the revolver in her backpack strap. Wrapping her fingers around the metal, the weapon was tugged from it’s hold into her eyesight yet Riko sat without firing. The pistol was merely in her hands, almost as if she were just going to present it to the infected women no more than a couple feet from her.

Frozen in her spot, Riko’s mind raced of how that woman, in her animalistic rage, could’ve been You. How it would be if she couldn’t make it home.

With a single blink, the woman was soon headed towards the floor as a gunshot echoed in the air. Her blood splattered across the trees surrounding the fence while her body fell with a heavy thump, ensuring there wasn’t any possibility of survival.

But the gunshot wasn’t from Riko.

Riko instead couldn’t even feel who she was. Her life had played before her very own eyes and even when she had only one thing to fight for, she couldn’t bring herself to continue. Instead, once more, someone else had to be the one to her rescue.

Turning her head, Riko was met with the sun shining in her eyes. There were no more trees to block the light nor to hide her presence.

“Grab her!”

Hearing those words Riko was knocked back into reality. She faced forward to see her position was not the most friendly. She was stuck breaking into a village with a gun in her hands. What a first impression.

Quickly sliding the pistol back into her backpack, Riko tried to free herself from the fence’s cloth-catching wires once more. She could hear footsteps gaining on her. They stomped harshly against the grass, not letting the young girl have even a moment to feel relaxed.

As Riko finally tore the rest of herself from the cloth-catching fence, she turned to immediately apologize for her actions and trouble she had caused. Before she could get the words out though, Riko only caught sight of the back end of a rifle, taking the shining sun from her vision with a splash of pain across her face.

* * *

Sleep was a luxury. To be in an unconscious state, not caring about the world falling apart around you, was truly a gift. However, it sure didn’t last very long in Riko’s case.

Rather than waking up to her own accord, Riko felt her own heart drop deep within sleep first before feeling her body hit the floor. She wearily opened her eyes, breathing in for a quick moment before coughing out the sand that she inhaled into her mouth. She could hear voices, numerous people all around her, whispering something she just couldn’t catch.

Riko groaned as she picked her head up, turning around to see an entire group of people surrounding her. There were men and women of all ages, faces blinded by the sun’s shining rays, all speaking to one another as they looked her up and down. Before Riko could even grasp onto what was happening or where she was, her attention was called forward.

“Get up.”

A voice rang in Riko’s ears, demanding her actions.

Turning forward, Riko saw just who it came from.

A girl, no, a woman, no more than a year or two older stood in front of her. She held onto a silver katana sharpened to the touch, blinding anyone who dared to look at it. It was long, nearly touching the sandy beach by a mere few inches.

The woman had sleek black hair, tied into a bun to hold out of her face. Her bangs her slit straight across her forehead, as if measured to preciseness. The only fault to her porcelain skin was the beauty mark by her lip, but even then it just popped her features even more.

Finally reaching her eyes, Riko saw they were blindingly green, similar to emeralds. They were almost familiar to someone else she had met before, but these were not of an innocent child.

The woman spoke louder to Riko,

“I said, get up.”

Her voice was calm yet loud enough for the audience around to hear.

Riko couldn’t tell if the way she felt was from the lack of food she had been missing recently or the fact that she felt as if she had been left out to be a dried grape for an hour. Either way, her legs shook as they stood up before the woman.

Riko oddly felt more light to her feet. That was before she noticed, they took her backpack, leaving her defenseless.

You had always told her, keep the pocket knife close by and don’t let it out of sight. Being unarmed in a fight nowadays was almost a death wish. Where there were no rules, there were no morals.

Riko’s hands began to sweat as they were met with nothing in her pockets. Her mouth had long run dry with fear shaking her to her core.

Riko’s eyes finally glanced around once more as she noticed, they were entirely surrounded by people, not a single exit around her. She could hear the oceanside, as well as see the Inn she had heard about from Kanan and Mari just above the crowds' heads.

It came to Riko’s attention that there was a chance if she had just traveled a mile or two more she could’ve made it to this spot.

But instead she broke in with an infected woman trailing her, leaving a very bad first impression.

Riko’s mind raced with regret as she took a slight step back from the woman who continued to stare a hole into her head. Her eye twitched with Riko’s fear being so blatantly obvious.

“What’s your name?”

Riko felt her lips shaking and though her jaw opened, her voice wouldn’t make itself known. She hadn’t ever been in a situation similar to where she was now, alone with no one to turn to. Her life had been so peaceful not even 24-hours before.

Riko could tell she was aggravating the mysterious woman though by the way her patience visibly faded with every ticking second. Clenching her fists, Riko tried harder to get her name out,

“R-R-Riko.”

With a raised eyebrow, the woman tilted her head upwards,

“Well, Riko, my name is Dia Kurosawa. I lead this village and I heard we had an intruder. So, dare to tell me what you are doing here?”

Dia took a small step forward and though the action was minicual, Riko’s feet stumbled backwards, tripping on themselves as she landed onto the sand. Dia didn’t break her curious glance but Riko could feel herself sweating up a storm over trying to answer a single question. She truly felt she couldn’t breathe, like this woman was taking her breath away but in the worst possible way.

Walking forward, Dia tightened her grip on the katana as she now spoke with anger laced in between her words,

“You’re wasting my time. Talk.”

Stepping closer, Dia began to tower over Riko, only being a step away from her feet.

The situation looked so similar and before Riko knew it, her body was reacting faster than her mind.

* * *

“Okay, say that someone is standing over you like this,”

You positioned herself before Riko as the young girl sat on the floor, mindlessly swaying her feet side to side. They had been practicing for almost an hour on the basics of how to throw a punch and they were finally proceeding with more lessons. Not that Riko was dying to get any further.

“You, can I get back to my studies now?”

You let her hands fall to her sides. Riko wouldn’t take her teachings seriously and while it wasn’t important now, later on it could be dangerous to not know simple techniques.

With such thoughts to plague her mind, You let out in an exasperated tone,

“Riko, you have to at least know how to get out of these situations. What if I’m not there and you get stuck in something like this?”

Riko sighed as she heard how persistent You was going to be on the subject. Technically, You was right but that didn’t mean she wanted to admit it.

Not saying anything though let You know she was victorious in their argument. You stood once more before Riko, now placing her foot exactly in position to tower over the young girl,

“Okay, if my foot is right here, you bring your knees inwards and make sure to catch either the person's ankles with the top of your foot, if they’re light enough, or catch the back of their knee if you aren’t sure about your own strength. The second option is a sure fire way to get anyone on the floor and just enough time to get back to your feet.”

“Oh, so like this.”

You didn’t have a moment to prepare herself as not even a single blink could pass before she soon found herself looking at the ceiling of their aquarium home with the breath knocked out of her. Riko, however, gasped out loud as she heard how hard You's head hit the concrete floor.

Lightly rubbing her head, You got up on her elbows as Riko immediately rushed to her side. Putting her hands in You’s ruffled mess of hair, Riko let out apologetically,

“I’m so sorry about that, I should’ve warned you!”

You laughed out loud though with how softly Riko tried to massage her head. Grabbing her hands, You smiled at Riko,

“It’s fine, you’re a natural. Next time let’s practice outside, okay? Preferably in a patch of grass.”

* * *

Opening her eyes, Riko found herself bringing her feet inwards, kicking at the back of Dia’s knees. She watched as the tall woman fell backwards, hands attempting to grasp onto the air to keep herself up as her katana slipped from her clutch. Her body's natural reflexes, as well as gravity, gave into her fall.

Stumbling to her feet, Riko now stood before Dia, switching the positions they were once in. All around the duo though, gasps could be heard as no stranger had ever dared to touch the leader like that.

The shame Riko brought to her made Dia’s ears burn red as she looked up at her perpetrator. The intruder of her village, a girl who could barely even get her own name out, had made a fool of her in front of everyone.

Dia slowly stood up, grabbing her katana once more. Giving a light crack to her neck, she prepared her stance. If Riko was willing to put up a fight, Dia was going to give one.

Without saying anything, Dia rushed forward as Riko let out a yelp. Riko tried backing further away, keeping the distance between the two of them the same but the people around wouldn’t clear a way, meaning she was truly trapped. If Riko were to lose a single step, Dia's katana would surely make its friendly uninvited appearance in between her shoulder blades.

Dodging weapons was easy to Riko, as You had gotten her familiar with that part of training, but that’s all she knew how to do. Without anything by her side, she was in an endless loop until either one of them gave up.

As Riko would run closer towards the group of people, they all moved in formation without clearing a way. Frustrated, Riko yelled out,

“Agh, can’t you guys move out of the way!”

* * *

“I think your sister is at it again, Ruby.”

The trio of teenagers walked by one another, slowly dragging their feet after yet another painstakingly boring day. They had all gone to check in at the local inn but not before they had spent their morning cleaning the praying temple nearly three miles out.

After they were caught for sneaking out they were watched at all times, not bound to leave anyone’s sight for more than ten minutes without a guardian nearby to watch them. The only time they could be alone was when they moved between jobs in town, so with that time they were sure to make it last as long as possible.

Hanamaru, though being the shortest, could see that the crowd of people obviously circled Dia. It was just like the feared woman to challenge people in the sand by the oceanside. Something about the battleground was Dia’s expertise, as that was where she trained and even forced Ruby to as well. No matter their environment, Dia ensured Kurosawa’s were never outmatched again.

Yoshiko, who was on the other side of Hanamaru, followed her earlier statement with a chuckle,

“Gosh, did she find someone else to torture today? Does she not get tired?”

Though both girls were her best friends, Ruby didn’t appreciate them speaking down upon her sister.

The two siblings didn’t exactly get along very well nowadays with the passing of their parents, but that didn’t mean it was a free for all against her. Instead, Ruby let out in a annoyed tone,

“Can you two stop? She’s doing her best, okay?”

Yoshiko and Hanamaru could tell with that voice, Ruby didn’t want the conversation to continue on. Instead, they let the topic drop.

They all silently continued their walk, already knowing they had to check in at the local library until nightfall as that was when their parents had to pick them up.

The silence between the girls was just enough for a voice to cut through the crowd chattering air,

“Agh, can’t you guys move out of the way!”

Instantly, the trio all stopped. They glanced at once another, immediately recognizing the voice. The same image popped in their heads of a nice woman who cared for them all during a rainy day. For Yoshiko though it was that and a slight reminder of her scar she was still hiding from her parents.

With all three girls turning to one another, they mentally agreed on what to do next. Rushing forward, the teenagers attempted to start slipping through the crowd, clearing a way to help the woman who would do the same for them.

Responsibilities or not, they had to know if it was really Riko and if she had brought her guest along with.

On the other side of the group of people though, walked a couple.

Kanan and Mari had been strolling along the beachside for their morning, checking to see if anything had washed upon its shore, but mostly Mari getting Kanan to avoid guard duty as long as possible to hang out with her longer.

As they both reached closer towards the Inn, they could see the crowd of people coming closer from the distance, all intensely focused on whatever was happening in the center.

Kanan placed her hands behind her head as she looked upon the group,

“Huh, I wonder what Dia’s up to now?”

Mari didn’t pay much attention though, already thinking of a way to get out of her own meetings when Kanan left. Instead she simply waved her hand dismissing the thought,

“Probably some boring town meeting we forgot about again. She’ll give us the run down later, I’m sure.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Kanan agreed. Even if they were there, Dia had a tendency to review with them in case they weren’t paying attention again. She knew the duo so well.

Becoming bored with the idea of a lecture about the safety and security of the town, Kanan yawned out,

“I guess. Well, when that happens we should see when she’s free again. I can’t remember the last time we’ve all hung out.”

Mari sparked up in excitement but before she could agree, a voice ran through their ears.

“Agh, can’t you guys move out of the way!”

Kanan stopped as Mari turned her head towards her. The voice was instantly recognized from the duo as a face popped into their heads. The nerdy doctor who could barely hold a gun for the life of her had to be in that circle, and if they were correct, Dia was there too.

Rushing forward, Kanan immediately ran across the sand and into the large crowd, knowing a person like Riko could not survive against Dia for long. Mari ran close behind, letting Kanan take the brunt work of pushing people as she apologized right behind her.

As the five girls rushed to Riko’s aid, the young girl was yelling out towards the group of people hoping one would crack and help her in her time of need. Though they were staring directly at her, they all turned a blind eye to what was happening.

Riko’s stamina had long run dry as by the time she peeked to see where Dia was once more, Riko could feel a brute force knock her down.

The breath she struggled to keep finally escaped her lips as her face was pushed against the sanded floor. The harder she struggled to escape Dia’s grasp onto her, the more she could feel her muscles wear thin against the sand.

With one flip, Riko was at her back as Dia swiftly pushed the blade against her throat. Riko tilted her head further into the sand to create more distance, but she could only escape so far. With Riko’s forearms locked against the ground by Dia’s thighs, it left the young girl with nothing more to defend herself with.

As Dia sat atop of her, she lowered herself, whispering in front of Riko once more,

“I’m going to ask one last time, what are you doing here?”

Riko tried to catch her breath, she tried everything she could, but the pure panic that ran through her veins caused her words to trip over one another again. Her short intakes of air were blocked by hiccups of anxiety as her tears began to build around the corners of her eyes.

Dia couldn’t handle such cowardness.

Pushing herself away from Riko, Dia flipped her kanata in her hand as she placed her left hand down onto Riko's throat, stopping her last breaths of air she so desperately needed.

With the sword facing downwards, Dia held it above her head as she prepared to strike it downwards. Riko closed her eyes, letting her tears finally fall, as one last memory shined behind her darkness

* * *

You sat with her legs on both sides of Riko as their lesson was finally coming to its end for the day. With her hand positioned to falsely strike Riko, You spoke her instructions to her,

“So, if someone is above you, similar to this, all you have to do is pull out your pocket knife and strike them preferably at the neck or towards the ribs. Those are good ways to get the attacker to cover themselves in pain and for you to escape.”

Riko, who was simply enjoying You on top of her, only had one question,

“What if I’m out of weapons? What do i do then?”

You leaned back, almost laughing at such an obvious question,

“Well, say you’re out of weapons and the person has the upper hand on you, you’re about as good as dead.”

Riko’s eyes widened, suddenly not as playful as she was before she let out,

“H-Hold on, what?”

You rubbed the back of her head, almost feeling bad for telling Riko the truth. Laughing out anxiously, You could only smile before giving her reassurance,

“It’s okay, just don’t worry about that part of it. No matter where I’m at, I’ll find a way to protect you. Promise.”

* * *

As Riko could finally intake a breath of fresh air, she could begin to imagine the darkness of the afterlife in many different ways. The afterlife seemed like a place that would be magical, even freeing, yet currently it still felt like the hot sand on a crowded beach.

Peeking an eye open, Riko was met with Dia’s sword, a mere few inches from her chest. Yet, it was shaking in the grasp of its owner.

As her eyes followed up towards Dia, she could see her hand struggling to bring it downwards, held back by a set of familiar faces. Yoshiko and Hanamaru both held onto Dia’s single arm, painfully obvious they were using everything they could to keep it from striking Riko. Ruby held onto Dia’s torso, attempting to pull her off of Riko with just about little movement.

With all of them grabbing at Dia though, they managed to toss her onto her back, freeing Riko entirely. Grabbing at her own chest, Riko pushed herself backwards, away from the group, as she truly thought that was going to be it for her. She couldn’t even express her gratitude yet though as Dia spent no time recovering from such a fall.

Quickly standing to her feet, Dia tightened her grip on the kanata once more but the trio was once again one step behind her. Yelling out in determination, the girls all grabbed at any part of Dia, attempting to stop her movement.

The teenagers all held onto her as if they were children begging their mother to go back into a candy shop. It wasn’t even their life on the line but they had to try their best. After how Riko spared them it only seemed fair.

Clicking her tongue in frustration, Dia finally stopped her advance at Riko to see what the problem was. Turning to see who was holding back her arm, Yoshiko had her grip tight on it, with Hanamaru holding onto Yoshiko for assistance. Their feet dug into the sand to pull her backwards but the ground slid beneath them.

Dia was quick to turn her kanata around, bumping the handle onto Yoshiko’s forehead, knowing a simple knock would get her down.

Yoshiko’s grip left Dia’s arm as she went to comfort her aching forehead. With Hanamaru’s force pulling her back though, it caused both of them to fall onto the ground.

With a brief, “Kya!”, followed by, “Zura!”, Dia turned her attention towards the last of the rebellious trio.

Ruby held on tightly to Dia’s torso, as she attempted multiple times to rip from her body. With a simple push to start, the young girl held tightly, burying herself further into Dia. Forcing more strength onto Ruby, Dia began to shove at the girl even harder to break her grasp.

Ruby, however, was there along the way with Dia’s practice each day. Day after day getting beaten down in preparation to battle against others led to her to be able to take a hit.

It was why she held on so tightly to her sister, never letting her grip lighten even as Dia continuously pushed against her, even trying the sword handle method on her.

The crowd around could see Ruby try so harshly to hold onto Dia, bringing a wave of confusion of just who the traveler was.

Riko backed herself further away as Ruby kept her at bay, and seeing such actions brought anger even deeper to Dia.

Grabbing at her sisters head, Dia attempted to push it away from her body as she yelled out,

“Ruby, what are you doing! You’re letting her get away!”

Ruby closed her eyes though, tightened her grip as she felt her sister’s hands forcefully push against her face,

“Stop! She didn’t do anything wrong, Dia! You’re just going to hurt her!”

Dia let out a yell in annoyance as Ruby wasn’t giving up. If only she showed this much determination in their practices.

“Well we can’t show mercy! Look what happened to our parents!”

The two girls continued to argue, and though they were considered the leaders of the village, it was almost as if they were small children once more, fighting over a stuffed toy.

Before it could be taken a step further though, Kanan and Mari finally burst through the crowd. As they both reached the center, they could see Riko in front of them on the floor, still catching her breath, as everyone witnessed the two Kurosawa’s fight.

Mari smiled at the sisters, amused that their sibling traits never died down. Tapping at Kanan, Mari signaled her to break them apart as she stepped down to help Riko.

Putting a light touch to Riko’s back, the young girl jumped up before she locked eyes with Mari. She looked almost as afraid as the first time they met.

“M-Ma-”

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ve got you now.”

The tears began to build in Riko’s eyes once more as she could only shake her head up and down. Her body shook in fear as well as simply an overwhelming of many other sensations. Not knowing she could react in such a way, Riko placed her hands over her head to find a way to block everything out anyway she could. Mari could only rub her back in soft circles as Riko continuously tried to slow her shaky breath.

Kanan, however, made her way towards the two Kurosawa’s. She could see Hanamaru and Yoshiko sitting on the floor out of the corner of her eye, confused at just what they were supposed to be doing.

The sisters were entirely focused on one another, they didn’t even see Kanan as she grabbed at the back of both of their shirts, ripping the two from one another in shock.

Knowing only one person who would dare to use such force with her, Dia didn’t even need to look up before saying,

“Kanan, you have about four seconds to unhand me.”

Kanan only smiled at Dia’s threatening words though. Quickly dropping Ruby, the young girl fell with a small “Oof”, as Kanan wrapped both of her hands around the older sister, giving her an extra tight squeeze,

“That sounded a lot like ‘You have about four seconds to hug me’, which you know I’d gladly do, Dia.”

Struggling to escape her grasps, Kanan laughed before turning towards the crowd. While holding tightly to Dia, the taller girl shouted towards the group of people who were still watching,

“Okay, that’s enough to see here, folks. Everything is under control, I hope to see this many people here for the next town meeting and not sacrifice. Go on now, go.”

“You don’t even go to half of the town meetings.”

“Hey, I heard that!”

The people around spoke with one another, all eyeing the scene as they slowly started to walk away. Kanan was sure to extra stare down the person who obviously had a problem with her lack of attendance at town meetings.

Dia was furious at the outcome though. Struggling harder against Kanan, Dia grunted out,

“Let me go! We don’t even know who this outsider is, yet you five are protecting her? What if she isn’t who she seems?”

Kanan slowly placed Dia on the ground, letting her grasp die down yet staying on her toes for safety. Before she could speak for Riko though, Ruby interrupted,

“But we do know her! At least, Yoshiko, Hanamaru, and I do.”

Dia’s anger disappeared almost instantly though as she heard her sister’s voice. She hadn’t realized how long it had been since they really spoke to one another. Still curious though, Dia hinted for more,

“How so?”

“She’s the lady who gave us a place to stay when we snuck out. She gave us food, and well,”

Looking back, Ruby made eye contact with Riko before whispering back to Dia,

“She’s the person we stole the fruit from as an apology to you.”

Riko heard the whispers though, confirming her suspicions true. Almost as if she wasn’t nearly having a panic attack five minutes before, Riko pointed her shaky finger as she yelled out,

“I knew you guys stole my fruit! I’m only here because I ran out of food!”

As Ruby flinched at the truth, and Yoshiko as well as Hanamaru both looked in the other direction, Dia stepped forward. She looked down at Riko calmly but the young girl couldn’t tell if that frightened her more than before. Raising her hands up, Riko quickly let out,

“Not that there’s a problem with that! I’m sure those kids need all the protein they can get to grow up strong.”

Dia stopped in front of Riko, slightly cautious of her stance, before glancing towards Kanan and Mari,

“How do you two know of her?”

Kanan and Mari nervously eyed one another before spouting out different answers,

“We met before the apocalypse!”

“We saw her around at the beach!”

Slapping her forehead, Kanan groaned at them being caught in their lie. Dia didn’t entirely care at the moment though, instead she walked closer towards Riko and though she didn’t have the look of death in her eyes, Riko couldn’t help but lightly lean backwards.

Dia’s feet strode across the sandy floor before finally stopping in front of her. She leaned down, placing a knee onto the sand before reaching out her hand for Riko to grab,

“I’d like to formally apologize for my actions before. I didn’t know you helped my sister and her friends while they were away. I thought you were an intruder, and if you heard before, intruders are not welcome here.”

Shakily grabbing her hand, Riko let Dia help her up. She didn’t feel entirely comfortable around such a powerful woman, especially one who nearly murdered her a few moments before, plus the way she could flip a switch on her emotions was almost concerning.

Dia patted her down though, gracing over the patches of red skin across her arms and face that would soon turn to bruises from where the young girl was shoved too harshly. Avoiding Riko’s eyes, Dia said aloud,

“We’re going to have to give you replacement food for the one that my sister and her friends stole from you. The fruit is, well, no longer with us.”

Riko looked at Dia confused at her terminology, that was before Mari bounced from behind whispering to Riko,

“That means she ate it herself.”

Dia’s cheeks burned as she was found guilty of her actions,

“I-It was a gift! I didn’t think it was stolen from someone!”

Mari burst into laughter first before everyone around slowly joined in at Dia’s embarrassment. Even Riko herself couldn’t help the giggles arise from her chest. It was freeing, finally having a real moment to breathe.

* * *

With Dia not feeling her apology was enough, she herself guided Riko around their small village while the rest of the group went off to do the tasks they were all assigned to for the day. There was no escaping their pre-planned duties.

Riko was finally able to see things upfront with Dia’s assistance, rather than hear them from afar. The fence they had around their land was slowly growing each day, as Dia informed Riko, and that with every piece of land that was taken back from the infected they slowly began moving more outwards. They could only hope to gather more people that could be trusted into their growing village and clear the woods faster, as that was the hardest part to keep eyes on. Their main goal was the school though as it sat at the top of the Island. If they could get there, they could oversee far much more than what they could by the sandy shores.

As they walked further into the town of Numazu, the two turned down one of the many streets. Dia informed Riko that each street they cleared was for a different purpose. Whether it was for food, water, clothing, or other tasks. Everything was divided and properly organized to maintain order.

Dia led Riko towards the food market road, already having in mind just who was going to get the best food for Riko as an apology.

Dia stopped in front of a fairly large house, standing up straighter as she prepared herself to go forth. Looking in, Riko could see a handful of people already talking amongst themselves within the shop. As Dia walked in though, everyone stepped aside, almost as if she were a feared lion rather than just a normal girl. Riko followed closely behind, as she really had no idea what else to do.

Dia stopped in front of the main counter and though everyone around her avoided their eyes in fear, a girl with bright orange hair cheerfully greeted her,

“Dia! Long time no see! What can i do for you?”

Dia kept a straight face, polar opposite to the girl, as she panned out,

“Hello, Chika, I’m here with a guest today. I need some of the best delicacies we have to see that our friend here has a nice meal for her travels.”

Stepping aside, Dia introduced Riko to Chika. Riko awkwardly waved as the human mikan bounced up from behind the counter,

“Oh, a guest! It's been a while since we had one of those! Where are you from? What are you doing here? Do you plan on staying for a bit? Oh, I can show you around if you need a place to stay! We just cleared out these houses-”

“Chika, please, don’t overwhelm her, she’s been through a lot already. Just, see to her that she gets some food, consider it a personal gift from me.”

Chika rested her head on her hands, slightly surprised that the stranger was getting top notch treatment from the village leader,

“Oh? A personal gift? She must be a big deal then. But sure, I’ll give her something good, just wait here and I’ll be right back.”

As Chika headed towards the backroom to prepare her gathering, Dia looked at Riko before gesturing for them to step outside for a moment.

As they walked into the fresh air outside, the people all around went about their days almost as if there wasn’t an apocalypse happening. Gathering food from the local market or simply strolling around to occupy time, they seemed happy and content with how things were.

Dia stood by the side of the store window to see inside as well as not be in the way of others wanting to enter. Shuffling to her side, Riko looked around at all the people passing by. It was odd to be stared at, as she hadn’t exactly seen many people who didn’t want to consume her around lately.

Dia’s voice broke Riko from those thoughts,

“I guess I should ask, what are you exactly doing here? I feel as if I am rushing you out without exactly knowing who you are. I’m curious, you seem to have a good standing with others close to me anyways.”

Riko cleared her throat as she gathered her thoughts. She didn’t want to give away too much but she didn’t exactly want to be seen as a person with far too many secrets to be trusted.

“Well, as I said earlier, I’m here for food but also medication if you have any to spare. Kanan and Mari made your village seem very put together, and I do have some things to exchange if you require currency.”

Riko began to take off her backpack but was quickly stopped by the wave of Dia’s hand,

“No, no, consider this on me for how harshly I acted towards you before. I don’t exactly know what the others told you, but I have my reasons for not being so friendly towards intruders of any kind now. Not after how they murdered our previous leaders.”

Riko could recall being told about the previous leaders murder and their connection to Dia from Kanan and Mari, and after finding out Dia and Ruby shared parents and the young girl was trying so desperately to attend their funeral, the two clues clicked themselves together.

Looking downwards, Riko spoke softly,

“I’m sorry for your loss, Dia.”

Turning her head, Dia looked away. She didn’t want sympathy, she just wanted to make sure it wouldn’t ever happen again, especially now that she only had one family member left with her. Changing topics, Dia spoke out,

“You know, if you are alone, you can stay in this village with us. Obviously your standing is good with others and I’m sure after a few weeks everyone would forget about the incident earlier. I think you could fit in very nicely.”

Riko smiled at the offer. Her words were the same as her friends.

“Thank you, but I have someone back home that is waiting for me. She’s very sick right now so I can’t afford to pack up and leave anytime soon, not while I’m still fixing her up.”

Dia’s attention was caught with the knowledge of a new person,

“If she’s sick you could bring her over, we have medical supplies as well as our own doctor on hand. He’s fairly old but he knows about every trick in the book.”

Now it was Riko’s turn to peak her head in interest. She wanted to learn more in her profession as she couldn’t graduate at her highest due to the pandemic. She was cut short during her interning at the local hospital, where she was supposed to be learning things first hand. Where she was now was barely enough to pass as a newby doctor.

Instead, Riko could only sigh out. It was such a bad time to finally find another doctor with years of experience to help her grow more.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. But it’s okay though, I believe she’ll get through this. You see, I’m a doctor myself, sort of.”

Dia was impressed with the new knowledge from the traveler. She hadn’t seen a doctor so young before. Before Dia could continue her questioning of just what was wrong with the other person in question though, she could see Chika emerge from the backroom with all sorts of foods for Riko, already beginning to chop them up for travel.

Dia straightened herself up from the wall,

“Well, if you’re caring for them I have faith in their recovery. Do remember though, you’re free to come back anytime, with another person as well. I’m sure our local physician would love to have an apprentice to help out with the townsfolk if you’d be up for it.”

Riko smiled as she shook her head. The idea of something more waiting for her and You was enough to strike joy in her heart, even if she wasn’t exactly sure that the two of them would make it to the village again.

Dia gestured her head towards the shop once more before beginning to walk in, Riko following right behind her.

Chika saw the two enter as she was slowly organizing the food she collected. Waving her hand over, Chika called Dia and Riko over to behind the counter with her. As they circled towards where she was, Chika was showing them what she had gotten,

“Okay, so I gathered some of our fruits, some ripe to eat now while others are unripe so you can have them for a bit longer. I’ve also collected some meats, again some cooked and uncooked for now or later. And, I even brought some snacks to munch on right now as I organize everything into a traveler's case that won’t be too heavy.”

Riko awed at all the food she saw, almost tearing up as she hadn’t seen so much to eat in just about months. Dia nodded her head at Chika’s gathering,

“Good job, I’ll leave her in your hands now so that you see her out. I have to go check in with the troublemakers then attend some other things. Thank you for helping, Chika, and hopefully I’ll be seeing you again, Riko.”

Chika and Riko waved as Dia was already leaving out of the door before she was entirely done with her sentence. Riko had never felt so uncomfortable in her life. The only way to calm down the inner awkwardness in her was to have someone she knew nearby, but with everyone who interrupted in the fight about to get the scolding of a lifetime, she was on her own with a painfully bright and cheery girl she met not even five minutes prior.

“Don’t mind her, Dia’s awkward with goodbyes.”

Chika spoke to Riko as she continued her cutting of fruits. Riko hummed as she tensely kept her hands to herself. Gesturing towards the extra food, Chika giggled out,

“Feel free to grab some. You don’t wanna speed-eat it later then travel on a full stomach.”

Silently agreeing, Riko carefully grabbed the thinly sliced meat Chika had prepared, savoring the first bite as much as she could.

“So, tell me about yourself, Riko. Anything interesting going on in your life right now?”

Riko sighed out, if only she knew the half of it. Rather than bringing down the hammer of all of her life problems though, Riko faked a smile,

“Well, I’m just a traveler in need of supplies. I have to get back home and if I leave soon I can get back before sundown.”

“Ah man, I was going to offer you a place to stay for the night. I’m kind of the person who hoards all the new people that come over. Like we just got a new girl, can’t remember her name for the life of me though. She’s got black hair and purple eyes. Super leader-type-ish. Maybe I’ll hear it from someone else sometime, since it’s a bit too awkward to ask for it now again.”

Chika laughed out her sentence and though the appearance sounded familiar to Riko, she let it go over her head.

“Thank you for the offer, but I promised You I’d be back as soon as I could.”

As Chika went on to cut the meats now, she peaked in interest,

“Oh? Is this You-person special to you?”

Chika glanced at Riko to see the young girl’s cheeks were tinted pink. It was hard not to blush when Riko thought about You,

“Yeah, she’s the best person I’ve ever met. That’s why I have to get home soon.”

Smiling, Chika didn’t beat around the bush with her questions,

“Are you two dating? Or is it a we’re-the-last-two-people-in-the-world-so-let’s-stick-together kind of thing?”

Riko became more embarrassed. She hadn’t had anyone really question her dating life besides her mother when her and You first started seeing one another romantically. Scratching her cheek, Riko answered truthfully,

“We’ve been together for a while. About eight years now, but we’ve known each other for ten.”

“Oh, so you guys have been through this whole thing together? Strong couple.”

Riko chuckled out,

“Yeah, I guess we are. It was really all her though, she’s been really patient with me and has done so much for my sake. I couldn’t ask for anyone better.”

Chika smiled at their love. It was nice to hear about a couple who were already together. Would be nice if a certain pining duo with blue and golden hair followed in their footsteps.

“Sounds like she’s a great girl. She also sounds a lot like a giver, but what has she received from you?”

Though the question was full of curiosity, Riko couldn’t help but feel a pang against her chest. She hadn’t really thought about that. You had truly only asked for two things from Riko.

For Riko to take time for herself, even if it were in a dream, and if she would ever think about starting a family with her. Both things Riko pushed farther and farther into the future, but now there wasn’t even a guarantee that either of those things could be a reality.

Looking down at her hands, Riko sighed out,

“I guess that’s something I’m going to have to work on myself.”

With Chika packing the final meats into her travel pack, she got up handing it over to Riko,

“Well, the faster you head home, the faster you can get working on those things.”

Riko smiled at Chika’s enthusiasm. Grabbing the bag, it was surprisingly light for how much she had stuffed into it. Chika helped Riko place it on top of her current backpack to keep her from having to carry it.

“There should be enough to last you about a month if you ration it out with any current food you might have. I even put extra things to get you full faster such as bread and rice so you don’t eat all the good things at once.”

Riko adjusted herself as she felt lighter on her feet. She was beyond excited to go home to You now, especially knowing she would give her the proper things she needed to recover fully. As Chika called out to her co-workers that she was leading Riko out, they all waved their goodbyes as they walked out of the doors.

Riko could see the village life for what it was down the halls she traveled. Where they made clothes had a majority of older women teaching an assortment of younger children how to properly sew clothing for the upcoming summer.

They were able to spot Dia once more before Riko could leave but she only handed over a bottle of antibiotics before rushing off to leave again. Though she was Riko’s most feared person hours before, now she realized Dia was actually very awkward at getting to know people.

Traveling further, Riko saw they had a water stream in their village. It passed under a bridge leading to their entrance from the rear, the closer one to the aquarium.

As Riko’s steps echoed against the wood under her feet, she could see a group of children all playing by the water edge as they ran towards the bridge. They caught her attention but before Riko could look back to the entrance ahead, Chika cut in front of her line of sight, holding her hands out as she stopped the group right in front of them,

“Hey, what did I tell you little ones about playing near the water?”

Riko got a good look at the trio of kids, almost ironic that they were a group of three causing trouble. What a familiar sight.

The first one to speak was a grey-haired girl, already putting on a falsely cute face,

“Wah! Kasumin didn’t know you were talking about this water! Kasumin just wanted to show Shizuko and Rinako how pretty the blue is!”

Riko smiled at Kasumi’s words, it was adorable to hear a child speak in third person, especially with such a tiny voice. Chika, however, sighed out,

“Kasumi, I told you their names were Rina and Shizuku. And I know you wanna cheer Shizuku up but be careful, okay? Just one slip and you could end up in the water, and I’m pretty sure none of you know how to swim.”

Kasumi pouted at her scolding before the brown-haired one spoke up,

“I don’t mind that Kasumi calls me Shizuko, Miss Chika. But we’ll be sure to be careful next time! Come on you guys.”

Riko was taken back from the large change from the way the two girls spoke. She watched as they all ran past them, she even turned to see them go.

Before they could run far though, Shizuku turned back towards Chika and Riko. Riko hadn’t noticed how blue her eyes were. Almost like a crisp ocean that she held onto so dearly with another. Shizuku waved at Riko as their eyes locked for a moment before running to catch up with the other two.

“She’s a good kid.”

Riko blinked, remembering where she was as Chika’s words cut through her air.

“Y-Yeah, she has nice eyes. Blue.”

Chika noticed how Riko continued to stare in the direction they had gone, almost like they were bringing something familiar to her mind.

“You know, if you have children, they’re welcome to come. We don’t yell at all the kids here, promise.”

Riko smiled, she wondered if she really looked that old to have a family by then if this wasn’t the first time someone thought that about her. Sighing out, Riko turned away from the kids,

“I don’t have any kids, my family is just You and I. And I don’t even know for how long that will be.”

Chika hummed at Riko’s words, not paying much attention to Riko’s pessimism.

“It’s okay, there’s a lot of small or even broken families here. Little Rina is the last of her siblings, Kasumi doesn’t have her mother anymore, and well, Shizuku lost everyone. It’s a normal thing around here, but we’re all here for each other. We can’t replace the ones that are gone, but we can help you until you get back on your feet to keep trying in the world. Not everyone has given up hope, you know? There will be a good ending to this all, I’m sure of it.”

With that, Chika continued to walk towards the entrance as if she hadn’t just dropped such a bombshell of words on Riko.

Riko walked behind Chika, looking down at the floor. She really had this chance, the chance to change everyone’s life. To give others the possibility at not losing someone as so many had already. And now, she knew there actually were others, beside You and herself, that hadn’t given up hope. They were waiting on a miracle Riko almost had in her grasps.

Stopping at the entrance, Chika turned around smiling at Riko.

“Well, we’re here. I think I speak for everyone when we say we wish to see you again. I heard about your introduction here but I hope we didn’t scare you off with that. We’re a small place but once you’re trusted you’re always welcome back.”

Nodding her head, Riko tightened her grip on her backpack,

“Thank you, I’ll truly consider this place again. First impression was traumatizing, but you guys have good intentions so I can understand.”

With those final words Chika signaled the guards to open the gate with her hand, while also shouting out to them,

“Open the gates and make sure the infected are clear for at least a mile out. Consider it special orders from Dia.”

The large doors began to creak open, letting enough room for Riko to get past as guards on the outside already began pushing forward into the woods.

As she snuck between the frames, she glanced at Chika, even catching the village life continuing on behind her.

Chika never dropped her smile as she waved her hands, signaling their goodbye. Returning it, Riko waved back as she turned towards the forest with a new found determination.

There were finally others who would accept them into an easier life then they had been living the year before, taking out their daily struggle of attempting to get by. She just needed You. She needed her to make it out of her current battle, if not, the small glimmer of hope the village gave her wouldn’t truly be a place worthy of returning back to.

* * *

Riko stared at the aquarium doors. The sun was just beginning to set, taking her eyes a moment to adjust to such darkness.

The journey was exhausting after the second mile, and though she wanted to take breaks, or even slow her pace, she just couldn’t. Not when You was home waiting for her.

As Riko’s fingers struggled to find the lock with the key, she could hear something behind the doors.

A faint breathing.

The only issue was that Riko knew she left You in the office with the IV bag strapped to the chair beside her and she knew her hearing was not that good.

With her heart skipping a beat, Riko put her other hand on top of her current one. She tried to steady herself faster into the keyhole without completely giving into any emotions circling through her head at the moment.

In its position, Riko quickly turned the key in the lock.

Pushing the door forward, an ungodly sight was laid before her, almost rendering her paralyzed.

The only thing that broke through her mind was the sound of her key hitting the cemented ground.

You was on the floor, right by the door propped up by the wall, waiting. Her hand was over her stomach while the other laid flat on the ground. The entirety of her front shirt, dripping down to her jeans, was drenched in the black blood that tainted her bloodstream for so long. It ran down her mouth, drying around the corners. Her head was tilted to the side as her breath harshly tried to escape her barely open mouth.

Riko let her backpack fall to the floor, immediately getting to her knees as her hands wrapped around You’s cheeks, wiping away the mess around her face.

Almost in a sensory overload, Riko’s fingers shook uncontrollably around You’s face. It was barely warm in her grasp, almost like a person losing their inner flame.

Riko’s fingers continuously rubbed at You, trying to get a reaction in any form. Her tears clouded her vision and though her throat felt near to closing, she attempted to choke out in short gasps,

“C-Come on, You. I’m h-home, get u-up.”

You’s eyes barely opened, a hint of blue cracked through Riko’s panicking state, pausing her world entirely.

You smiled, oh so softly. That was something Riko hadn’t seen in so long. It was a mix of pain yet relief, like a puppy waiting the entire day for their owner to return. It was only for a short moment though as You started to choke up more of the black liquid, flowing out of her mouth and ruining what Riko had just cleaned up.

Backing up, Riko stared at just how much was coming out, knowing You didn’t have nearly enough liquids in her to replace what was leaving.

Grabbing underneath her shoulders, Riko attempted to grasp hold of You’s body. She leaned You atop of her to get her away from the wall and hopefully back to the room where her makeshift IV rested.

Feeling the liquid seeping into her own shirt, Riko was far too busy trying to get both of them to their feet to feel disgusted over what was happening. She grunted in pain from already exhausting herself with the journey home. She held You close to her chest, straining her weary muscles.

“Help me out here, Y-You.”

As Riko took a step though, You’s feet caught under hers, sending both of them back on the floor. Riko made sure her hands landed under You’s head, protecting what she could, but You still gasped out as the rest of her body slammed into the ground at full force.

Everything was becoming too much, slowly cracking down on Riko’s already fragile mental state as she sat up from the fall.

She had to get You back to her office, she had to try and give her the antibiotics she got, she had to keep going. She had to get You through this. But how?

Riko sat still on the floor for a moment, truly looking at You. She was so skinny, easy to crack under even a harsh glare. Her skin paled, contrasting harshly against everything attempting to leave her mouth. Yet, she was at peace not being awake in the world, not suffering.

Bringing her knees inwards, Riko put her hands over her head. The thoughts began to swirl her head of everything she had done.

She was at fault for everything. She could’ve just listened to You’s one request, to end it right at that hospital. She didn’t want to go through what Riko was doing to her. She just wanted an easy way out from the harsh world but Riko couldn’t let go. It was always Riko’s way, never what You wanted and now, look what that had gotten You.

Scratching her own fingers against her face, Riko let her sobs echo her body as she covered You from her sight. She had never felt so small, so useless. And now, the only person that had loved her with everything in them, was going to die twice because of her.

There was no movement, only cries filled the halls.

The noise was familiar though, waking a sleep sailor.

Riko kept her eyes closed as she heard shuffling, that was before she heard a shaky breath to pause her world,

“I-I-I’m… s-sorr… y, R-Ri… ko.”

Riko’s hands moved from her face as she stared down at them in front of her. She blinked at those words as she couldn’t think of anything You should be sorry for, yet she was always the one apologizing.

Rather than continuing on feeling sorry for what she had done, a different emotion took over Riko. Frustration. There should be no sorries, no goodbyes, nothing. Not until there was nothing left to give. Not until her last dying breath. There was no room to give up.

Getting to her feet, Riko looked down at You. Her eyes slowly closed again but her tears ran down the sides of her face. She was in pain, and Riko could see it.

“Don’t apologize. I think, no, I know I’m going to get you through this.”

Riko clenched her fists. She felt as if she was going to cry for the umpeenth time that day, but she couldn’t, not now. Not until there was a reason.

Right now though, Riko had a chance. A chance to save her love. And she was going to take it.


	6. Take Me Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, long time no see. Congrats for getting this far :) and congrats on just the constant waiting for me to update lol. Fair warning, if you read the title, the fic is called Take Me Back in which we will be doing exactly that. Every page break is a time jump and I thought I’d say it now just in case. Pretty much all the flashbacks are scenes that didn’t make the previous chapters cut however in a way worked out for an end. We still have like 2 chapters left in my official ending so please stick around for then.
> 
> Anyways, have fun and I’ll see you on the other side my friends. Yousoro and out (๑>◡╹)ゞ
> 
> Also, Happy Valentine’s Day. Tell someone you love them today, even if you aren’t reading it on the day.

Riko’s ears buzzed as the silence around her began to make itself painfully noticeable. She didn’t know how long she had gone without hearing anything, well besides herself moving things around the room. Being surrounded by such lively people from the village she had just shortly visited was an entirely different situation than where she was now.

The stark contrast was almost like whiplash. Where she was at the moment, Riko couldn’t be sure if she was happy or not. On one hand, You was with her and she was safe. On the other hand, taking in the young girl’s condition, it was like Riko was alone once more with no one to speak to.

You was in bed and resting full time, like before, after Riko had found her by the door after arriving back from the village. Definitely giving her the most traumatic experience in her life if she had to recall.

Perhaps You had used all of her energy to move about, that could explain why she had been asleep for nearly twelve hours. It was exciting to see her have more movement in her sleep than before, but Riko didn’t dare to raise her hopes when every minute You still didn’t respond to her calls of awakening.

While You slept, it gave Riko time to clean her, slowly wiping away the sweat, as well as the remnants of the black fluid that exited her body at an alarming rate.

Riko didn’t want to see whatever the substance was, especially when it was everywhere hours before. She tried her best to wipe at every part of You it touched, even going as far as to wipe away at her teeth. She knew You wouldn’t want the smell to stay in her mouth.

While she tried her best to not even look at it, Riko couldn’t help but find it matching the previous infected patients she had come across before. Except, rather than her body pushing out maroon blood from every pore, it was flipped with You in which the black liquid didn’t wish to remain inside of her any longer. Again though, Riko didn’t want to raise any hopes.

As Riko finished her job, she set aside her water and rag to let her body rest from nearly an entire night of You-watch. She sat back on her sore hands as she thought about everything she had done. She didn’t know what time it was, what day it was, or even where she was half the time.

All Riko knew was she had given it her all.

She thought of the patients she had seen when she had worked as an apprentice for a short time, to the infected that she had come across with You when they were scavenging for supplies. There were things that had worked at the hospital yet failed later, as with Riko’s trials, but they were all stepping stones to the big picture. Using those small bits of knowledge truly benefited her.

She had exhausted every possible lead. There was no more she could think of to save You, only her body could fight the virus now.

As Riko finally rose to her feet, letting out a small yawn in the process, she took everything that laid around the office and began to put it away. From the scattered around pieces of cloth, to the furniture that had been pushed aside in a frenzy. Slowly organizing the room to not feel so cluttered, Riko started her cleaning process.

As Riko walked around the room, she looked at everything and what it had done for her. She looked at her countertops, remembering every glass disk lined up in a row as Riko patiently waited for the results each day. Riko passed by her desk, where way too many of her nights were spent hunched over with a single candle to light her messy chemical formulas she came up with.

Dragging her finger along the desk, Riko looked at its messy contents. She scraped the papers together as she began to put away her documents that scattered across its surface. Opening her drawer to toss them aside, Riko came to notice the pictures that Kanan and Mari had found long before. They all still laid at the bottom of the drawer, waiting to be rediscovered.

Riko picked them up, spreading them out before grabbing at a random one. She had seen it so many times, yet it still brought her memories flooding back like brand new every time.

It was a picture of You and Riko, both in the final year of high school. You was in her usual aquarium work-outfit, as they were short staffed in the concession stand that day, while Riko sat right next to her, awkwardly giving a peace sign. They both held egg sandwiches Riko had made while smiling at the camera that You’s boss was behind. The blush on Riko’s face could be seen miles away, and it always gave You such a good laugh when she looked at that picture. That laugh, with the little snort at the end, was the only reason Riko hadn’t destroyed that picture the moment it was printed.

Riko set the photo down slowly, eyes still fixated on the younger versions of themselves before everything. So young, ignorant to the world before them. If only that young girl would know this was her future, a future of falling in love with her best friend and fighting against death itself to save her.

As Riko was about to pull the chair out to sit at her desk once more, she instead looked back at You.

The cover was falling slightly past her shoulders as she slowly took in her breaths. Just with the tick of a second, Riko noticed how lonely You looked by herself. So far away, yet so close. Walking over, Riko instead took her seat by her sleeping beauty.

As she sat down, her hands went to You’s blanket, slowly bringing it up to cover her more. The light touches of their skin grazing one another caused You to shiver, sinking further into the blanket. Taking a sigh, Riko’s heart ached a bit as she saw how cold You looked. She was already susceptible to the coldness, running a fever did her no justice. Unfortunately, they only had one blanket, as the room tended to be very hot at times so they never had to find another.

As Riko wondered how You could be so cold, even more than previous times when she had fallen sick, the answer came across her mind.

Every time they would sleep, they would be right by one another.

As her body moved without thinking, Riko got up, gently crawling over You as she too got underneath the covers. She wrapped her arms around You’s waist, snuggling her head by the young sailor’s shoulder to keep them close.

Riko’s eyes glanced up, taking in You’s sleeping form, before looking over to see her desk. She couldn’t help but think of every night, where she was now, was always You’s perspective. She would sit on this same bed and just watch Riko’s agonizing nights of discoveries. Always staring at her.

It was almost as if she was waiting every night for her to come to bed, yet Riko never did.

Closing her eyes tightly, Riko sighed. There was no use crying over things she couldn’t change. Everything she did was for a reason, there was no use in doubting her actions now. Instead, Riko focused on being a human heater at the moment.

That soon became an easy task, much to Riko’s luck. The new found difficulty Riko faced though was how tired she was becoming in the process. Her blinks were taking much longer, and even her thoughts were dozing off.

Riko yawned out as she grazed her arms further up You’s shivering body. Riko could feel her sailor’s hip bones across her forearms, and even though they contrasted greatly in body temperatures, Riko tried her best to ignore it.

She ignored the slowing of You’s breath each hour, she ignored the fact that You hadn’t woken up the entire day, and she truly ignored the rate she was beginning to lose hope.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Riko whispered to You in their quiet room,

“You know, every night has been a different story. I’d ask you if you remember something, even if you never responded, and then I’d say the first memory that came to my head. I don’t know if they were really for you to hear, or maybe it was so I wouldn’t forget even the smallest things about you.”

Riko tightened her grip, almost afraid she’d break her already fragile sailor, as her voice shook.

“I never gave up hope that you would maybe one day talk back with me, maybe even add in something I didn’t remember, but now… Now, I don’t even know if you’ll ever wake up.”

Riko’s tears dampened the cover on You’s shoulder. Her breath came out in heavy shakes,

“Please don’t go. I promise, I-I’ll stop boring you after all of this. We can make m-more memories if you want.”

Riko tearily laughed out at her own joke, remembering the blank faces You would give her when she’d tell each story.

“But, at least let me tell one more story, while you’re still here.”

Though Riko said ‘one more story’, even she knew that was a lie. Instead, she spoke and spoke until her body finally caved in to her fatigued state.

* * *

Riko’s shoes echoed in the hallway she nervously strode down. It wasn’t common that she was called to the principal's office, especially on her first day of school, but things were very strange in her life right now.

Moving to a new town was strange, even going to a school that looked older than her great-grandparents was strange, but it was her life now, unfortunately.

Riko felt like she had been walking the halls forever now, passing by the same door every minute. She wasn’t even sure which floor the office was at at this point.

As she reached another flight of stairs, Riko stopped as she placed her hand on the rail, wondering if she should go back up to class to ask for help or keep searching on her own. That was if she could even remember where her class was.

A person, however, was stopped at the top of the staircase. As Riko’s eyes traveled up her legs, she was met with her face. It was the girl who sat behind her, and that was asleep nearly all class period. She had silver hair, bouncy and wavy, and now that they had made eye contact, apparently sapphire gems that put the sky’s blue to shame.

Though it was a quick glance, Riko was swift to look away as if she hadn’t seen her, but the grey-haired girl was sure to make her presence known,

“Hey, new girl!”

Mentally slapping her forehead, Riko was caught in her sad attempt to avoid human interaction. She turned to face the girl, only to see her sitting onto the railing, sliding her way down to Riko at a fast rate.

As she jumped off the ending, she stumbled a bit forward into Riko’s personal space. Backing up, Riko was a bit surprised at how energetic she was compared to in class.

As the grey-haired girl gathered her stance, Riko slightly bowed in greeting,

“Nice to meet you.”

When Riko looked back up she saw You with her hands behind her back, swaying side to side on her heels as if she were a child. Riko awkwardly looked around to see if anyone else was around to be her saving grace in this moment.

“So, what’s your name?”

As the question left the girl’s lips, Riko was a bit confused. She had already introduced herself at the beginning of class before the day started, had she been asleep that long?

“Riko, and yours?”

The cheerful girl raised her hand to her forehead, giving Riko a salute with a bright smile to match her personality,

“Watanabe You’s the name, sailing is my game!”

Riko raised her eyebrows, slightly taken back by how loud You was. You’s hand moved from her forehead to the back of her head as she nervously patted it,

“Sorry, I fell asleep in class today. Swimming practice is way too early in the morning for my liking. By the time I woke up, I saw the empty desk in front of me already filled and math on the board so I had to hit snooze again. That, unfortunately, has landed me in the principal's office.”

“Oh, that’s not good.”

Riko tried to keep her responses dry but the “You” girl in front of her kept it going, almost as if she wasn’t entirely getting the hint Riko wasn’t there for small talk,

“What are you doing out? If you’re looking for the bathrooms you didn’t have to go this far for them, they’re on our same floor.”

Riko pursed her lips together, already silently embarrassed for being lost in general,

“No, no, I’m heading to the principal's office as well. I just took a little detour is all.”

You giggled at Riko’s explanation, already seeing through her lie with her blush to give her away. Rather than questioning her more though, You figured she’d lend a helping hand. Riko looked too hard-headed to admit she was lost anyways.

“Well, Riko, I’m in no rush to get to the office either. Why don’t I take ahold of this “detour” of yours and show you around our school?”

Riko immediately brightened up, happy at the idea that she didn’t have to embarrassingly tell the truth. The young girl shook her head up and down,

“Y-Yes! Then for our final spot we can go to the office together!”

You smiled, already thinking of every small detail to show Riko of their school in order to keep her own punishment for sleeping in class as far into the future as possible.

Stepping a bit forward down the hall, You looked back at Riko,

“Well then, how about we head to the pool? It’s on the other side of school, but I promise on our way back I’ll show you more stuff, that way you won’t get lost again.”

You stuck her tongue out a bit to tease Riko only for the girl to gasp out,

“I-I wasn’t lost! I was just, sight-seeing!”

Chuckling out at how red Riko’s face had become, You knew she was going to have fun with the new girl very quickly.

“Okay, okay, I believe you, Riko. Now come on, the future memories of this place await!”

Riko walked alongside You, slightly anxious she would get in trouble for not reporting back immediately. However, with how relaxed You seemed about the entire situation, Riko put her faith in her.

Making a friend was hard for Riko in general, but if You was making the effort here, who was she to deny a fun time?

“Alright, lead the way.”

* * *

Riko’s feet swayed at the edge of the roof, watching the dolphins below her perform tricks for the snacks the trainers were giving out. She sat at the top, only a glance towards the sky from being caught. Sure she could’ve eaten lunch with You anywhere else, but being alone always felt more special than the mess hall.

As Riko watched them and their noises they would make, she could hear You come up behind her. Her Uchiichi outfit already gave her away long ago with its squeaks.

Turning around, Riko could see You walking towards her with two cold beverages in her hand and her costume head in the other.

“Sorry for the wait, can’t finish off lunch without a nice drink afterwards.”

Riko smiled, grabbing a hold of the beverage being handed her way. It was a huge temperature contrast to her skin as soon as it made contact. She had been sitting under the umbrella You had set up, but that didn’t stop the natural heat around her to burn her up.

“You’re fine, You. Sorry I forgot to bring them. I lost track of time when I was making us lunch.”

Plopping down, You’s costume let out a squeak as she got situated. Riko had to quickly turn as to not give away the laugh she was trying so hard to contain. You didn’t notice though, instead she just leaned back, opening her water, as she let out in a sigh,

“I can’t believe it’s our final year already. It feels like just yesterday I saw you in the hallway getting lost.”

Losing the laughter, Riko feigned a gasp as she gently hit You’s shoulder,

“I’m telling you, I wasn’t lost!”

You let out a laugh at Riko’s weak strike. At times like these, she was glad she sneaked Riko in so much, despite her constant warnings from her boss. It would be boring to sit alone during lunch without anyone to talk or really enjoy life with. And of course, with You being happy, it only brought a smile to Riko’s lips as well.

As they both settled into their silence, Riko thought back to what You said. School was but a couple months from ending, meaning their freetime was bound to be cut short very soon. Not wanting to turn the conversation serious though, Riko instead grabbed at the padded palm of You’s costume,

“Oh how I’ll miss you in this costume, You. So defenseless, so soft. Just a giant marshmallow of fluff.”

Bringing her hand dramatically to her heart, Riko pretended as if she were in her final stages of saying goodbye to the costume. You blushed though as she saw how close Riko put her hand to her chest. Retracting it back, the future sailor instead laughed at Riko’s little show,

“C-Couldn’t be me. I’m sure as heck not gonna miss this sweatshop. That scholarship is finally gonna give me the extra money I need to quit this day job. I mean look at me,”

You motioned to her costume, moving her hands up and down her large round body,

“I have the body of Mister Potato Head! That’s not exactly dating material in anyone’s eyes.”

Riko didn’t look at You’s body though, only her face. Though there was sweat lined at her forehead and her curly baby-hairs stuck to her face, the way her cheeks were tinted that perfect pink let Riko’s words flow without a second though,

“I still think you’re cute.”

You opened her mouth for a moment before shutting it again. Great time for her words to get stuck. Now being the embarrased one, You pushed Riko’s shoulder,

“You say that a lot when I’m at work, I’m starting to think you like the costume more than me.”

Riko only laughed at You’s joke as she looked elsewhere. Her hands set down her drink before moving towards her lap as her feet stopped swaying. At times like these she couldn’t help but think it’s perfect. There’s no one around, it’s just them and the sound of the water to fill their silence. Riko pressured her mind, trying to get out those words.

_‘Just say it.’_

Riko just didn’t know how to though. Words had become much more difficult to articulate around You, and that was on a good day.

How could she tell her first best friend that ‘cute’ isn’t the proper word to describe her, but rather _‘Beautiful’_ is. How could she possibly function long enough to tell You that being snuck onto the top of the roof was the one thing she looked forward to each weekend, and the only reason she was sometimes late was because she would spend hours finding the perfect outfit to wear, even imagining how maybe this was the day that would be so much more different from the others.

There’s no way she ever could when her heart soon started to beat louder in her ears than her own thoughts. Instead, Riko swallowed the idea. Everything was much easier to deal with when it was just her in her room, not when negative outcomes circled her head in front of the one her heart desired the most.

Riko changed the subject with a slightly clenched throat,

“You know, even though we're both going to the same college, I don’t feel like we’ll really have a lot of time for each other. I mean, we’re going to be two totally different majors.”

You dismissed Riko’s moment to herself, blaming it on the idea of their friendship fading away over time to make her silent.

You looked over towards the dolphins below them, thinking of her words. She didn’t want to make a simple promise, but rather a guarantee to her best friend. If only it hadn’t started to become much more difficult to look her in the eyes.

You took a quick drink, washing down the egg sandwiches Riko had made for both of them earlier. As the water went down smoothly, You looked down at her feet as they kept swaying in the wind,

“It’s okay. We could be in two totally different words, but no matter what, I’ll always be there for you.”

Riko wasn’t sure if those were the words she wanted to hear. She didn’t want whatever that was happening to her heart when You spoke to her to last forever, but yet that glimmer of hope that one day everything about them might change kept Riko’s smile ever so present,

“I’ll hold you to that.”

* * *

Riko’s eyes fixated on the lights of the stars before her. They shined so brightly against the night sky. She snuggled deeper into her scarf, wondering if she stayed quiet enough would the world stop in that moment.

It couldn’t be a greater wish, just her, the moon, and her future sailor whose foot was stretched across the floor to touch hers as they were seated in a ferris wheel cart with no one else around.

“Riko, are you okay? You haven’t talked a lot recently?”

Riko’s eyesight finally broke from the sky as she looked at You. Her nose was bright red, and though she was shivering, she still had on as many layers as Riko did.

Riko only gave her a half smile though,

“I’m okay, I’m just thinking about some stuff right now.”

You pursed her lips as she tapped her foot rapidly in concentration. She had the day all planned out, but if Riko wasn’t feeling good, who was she to force her along? It was all that she had been doing since they started college. You kept taking Riko to every place she wanted to go, all to get Riko out more. Now though, the thought of being the annoyance in her life scared her more than ever.

Riko could see the thoughts almost as if they were written across You’s face. That and You had a tendency to tap her foot when she was too focused on her words. Riko moved a bit forward, but immediately recoiled as she felt the cart move. Instead, she stayed still to speak,

“Sorry, I don’t think I’ve been a very good friend recently. I just can’t stop thinking about what will happen when this is all over, when we get back to the ground it’ll be the same routine again and again. I’m just... a bit tired.”

You could see Riko’s forced smile as she said her words. By now it was killing You to see Riko like that, beaten down slowly by the world, only continuing on by a thread.

“No, Riko, you’ve been a great friend, probably the best person in the entire world! I’m the one that hasn’t been so great.”

You looked down at her mitten covered hands for a moment. She wanted to say more, but to throw herself on Riko when she was having a hard time didn’t seem right. Instead she began to tap her foot once more. Riko chuckled out a bit, seeing how strained You was over apologizing over the same thing,

“You, I can guarantee you’ve been a better friend. I mean, if you didn’t get me away from my desk I’d probably still be there, ignoring everyone while the world went on without me. You look out for me a lot, so on a friendship level I think I might-”

“What if I don’t think of you as a friend, Riko?”

You was quick to interrupt as soon as Riko voiced their relationship. Right when those words left her lips though, You could feel the regret all throughout her body. She wanted nothing but to let the world swallow her whole. Riko only looked at her in confusion though,

“You mean, like a better best friend?”

Riko smiled, unsure at what You was trying to get across. It wasn’t until You wouldn’t look up at her that she couldn't help her mind into thinking of everything she ever did wrong between the both of them. Was this some way of You telling her she didn’t want to already be best friends?

Riko kept waiting for a response but You only rubbed her mittens together in her lap, shaking from the combination of weather and her frightened state at just what she was about to do.

The only thing Riko could see were You’s ears as they poked from her hair. They shined a bright red and not before long, Riko pieced it together. The constant little touches, shy smiles from across the classroom, even waiting hours after class for Riko to be done with her studies so You could walk her back to her dorm room. Those were You’s signs, that maybe she too was starting to feel the same way.

_“Oh.”_

It was all that rose from Riko’s chest. What was there to say, You was the one who had to confess. Of course, Riko could make it easy and just lay it all out on the table, but a small part of her didn’t believe what was happening. A more realistic situation would be if You told her she didn’t want to ever see her again, never in a single one of Riko’s dreams could she imagine herself like this, yet here she was.

You finally looked up at her, face painted red while she shook from head to toe, yet her eyes stayed directly on Riko. Nothing nor no one else were around them for their moment. It was as if You was looking right through her, and now Riko couldn’t help but be the one to be embarrassed.

“I don’t want us to change, I-I still love being us. Plus if I’m being honest, I have been a bit scared to tell you for a while now, but I just wanted you to know how I felt so I can walk away from all of this a-and have no regrets.”

Riko felt like she was drowning in her thoughts, but she needed this. Just one confirmation.

“And, how do you feel? About us?”

There was no walking away from it, how could either of them when they were hundreds of feet in the air. Then again, You was a high diver, but there was no pool of water to save her down there so they were stuck.

The anxiety rose around the both of them yet You stood taller than she had the entire day with Riko’s eyes on her,

“Riko, I like you. In every way you can imagine,”

You’s previous brave facade began to crack down, she let her shoulders relax as her words began to slip from her lips,

“I like when you laugh really loud at my bed head when I stay over, I like when you’re on your phone and you whisper what you’re reading under your breath, I like the smile you greet me with every morning and the tired one you give me by the end of the day. The list goes on and on,”

By now You could feel how embarrassing her words were. She would rather feel the cold than the heat burning her alive from her face but she had to spit out the last half,

“I know, now isn’t the perfect time for really any of this, with either of our situations. I should’ve just not said anything, but I had to, in case, in some crazy way, you might feel the same way?”

You smiled at Riko. It was a bit awkward, but the small glimmer of hope brought it out.

Riko wasn’t entirely sure what to say. A confirmation of her feelings was the first thing on her mind, but was it the right time was the question.

Doubts circled Riko’s head at everything that could go wrong. Their friendship could go sour or her parents might not approve and that in itself would rip her from everything she had tried so hard to achieve. Yet, as Riko could see the town lights shine in You’s eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to speak those doubts out loud. Rather than fearing the possibilities, for once, Riko wanted to face them. Dreams only came true every so often anyways.

Taking a deep breath, Riko finally spoke,

“I’m at an... awkward time in my life right now, You. I’m sure you know, I mean, you see how badly I want to succeed. I literally gave up playing the piano just to give my parents one good thing from their daughter.”

Riko looked away from You, finally taking sight of just how bright the city looked around them with her own eyes,

“And it’s not like I haven’t dreamed of a moment like this, ever since high school. I’m just a bit scared, like you, to say ‘yes’ and ruin this, everything we have here. I’m comfortable, to say the least.”

By now You could only bite her lip, she wouldn’t tell Riko to stop as whatever she had to say she wanted her to say it. The way it was coming out though wasn’t what You had planned.

“However,”

Riko looked back at You. Their eyes met for what seemed like the thousandth time. They had spoken so many words to one another, yet this was different,

“If you’re patient with me, and everything I can be at times, I would love for us to be more than what we are now.”

You smiled in disbelief at what she was hearing, Riko could see how excited she was getting by the passing seconds though and quickly confessed,

“I’ll still mess up, and you might have to explain things very simply because I’ve never done this before. But, if I’m being honest, if I were to think about a dream come true, it would be you.”

You by now had her mouth slightly ajar. She didn’t think Riko could ever think of her in such a way. A confirmation to her confession was honestly a shot in the dark, but now, this was a game changer.

Without thinking,You leaned forward, as if she were going to hug her best friend. As soon as she sat up from the seat though, the chair they were in leaned with You, pushing Riko backwards.

As Riko’s hands quickly grabbed at the rusty handlebars around them, she quickly yelled out in a panic,

“You! Sit back! Sit back!”

With their seat moving, even You lost her balance as she plopped back into her chair, swaying the seat back and forth. As their hands tightly gripped the bars near them, their heavy breaths, along with rusty squeaks, filled their silence as they waited for the dust to settle.

You looked up slightly, though she was going to apologize for her actions, the face Riko was making was too much for her. Her eyes were wide in terror as she desperately clung onto the barely stable handlebars around them, she looked similar to a cat shaken in fear.

Removing one of her hands from the handle bars, You put it over her mouth as she began to giggle. Riko turned her way, almost shocked at how she could laugh at a near death experience like that but as her giggles turned to laughter it soon became too contagious.

Riko too began to join. Their laughter burst through their chests, having them grab at their stomachs to calm themselves in some type of way.

Between their laughter, Riko let out,

“Why don’t we wait until we’re on the floor to talk more about this? Cotton candy on you, for nearly giving me a heart attack there.”

You’s smile never dropped from her face as she beamed out,

“Sounds like a deal!”

While You knew Riko wasn’t ready to take that step into a relationship as she was, she wouldn’t mind waiting until the time was right. If it meant finally getting a chance to make one dream come true, she’d wait forever for her. Besides, a little Watanabe charm goes a long way.

* * *

Twigs snapped beneath Riko’s feet as she followed closely behind You. The woods were dark, and You was really the only one with a weapon. Or at least one she knew how to use. Her own flashlight quickly scanned behind them as her fingers clenched onto the fabric of You’s shirt.

Riko didn’t really know how long they had been traveling, but apparently You knew the woods like the back of her hand and constantly reassured her they were going in the right direction. Did she doubt it, slightly. Then again, really anything was better than staying at their apartments in the city for another day.

While You didn’t mind how close Riko was to her, given their situation she’d probably be doing the same if Riko were in front of her, she did mind the amount of noise they were making.

Lightly putting her finger over her mouth, You let out a quick hush,

“Step after my foot prints, we can’t risk making much noise until we get inside.”

Riko nodded her head, grasping onto You’s backpack instead as she looked down, placing her foot after where You would step.

They continued on for just a while longer, listening out for anything that might be around, before they finally cleared the forest.

As they reached the fence bordering the building, You turned to face Riko, placing her hands together on her knee to motion for Riko to step on her to give her a boost. Placing her hand onto You’s shoulder, Riko stepped up onto You as the young sailor assisted Riko over the fence. As she jumped down to the other side, Riko quickly glanced at the open area around the building before resting her hand on the fence, where You’s fingers were,

“The place looks clear, let’s see the inside though.”

Nodding her head, You lightly tightened the grip on Riko’s fingers before quickly climbing up on the fence. Considering she had more upper body strength than Riko, You always went last when it came to fences, just in case they were too loud and someone were to hear she could easily jump over faster. So long as Riko was safe first that was what mattered to You.

As You jumped down onto the otherside, she too looked around. They were in the wide-open. Not a very good spot in theory, however, it gave them a full advantage over what they could see around them, unlike the forest where every pass of the tree was a mystery.

You and Riko looked around as they walked together towards the door. They stayed close by one another, a bump of the arm from alerting the other of any danger.

As they neared the door, Riko looked behind them while You grabbed the keys from her pocket.

You unlocked the door for both of them before shining her flashlight into the lobby to see what was around. The place looked tidied up, chairs were stacked to the side, allowing an abundance of open space for nothing to hide. All around the walls were a baby blue painted color as the signs of facts about sea life were still hung up.

You stepped in once her light shined every corner she could before Riko did as well. Riko locked the door behind them as they both stood in the empty area with nothing but the soft wind from the outside to fill their eardrums.

You took her backpack off, only taking a hold of her gun, flashlight, as well pocketing the keys she was given to every locked door. Riko followed in setting down her backpack, only grabbing her own flashlight as well as her old reliable pocket knife. As soon as they were free of anything heavy they had brought, Riko finally spoke. Her voice was a bit shaky, not used to feeling secure as deep down she feared something would appear from around the corner,

“Are you sure it’s safe here?”

You honestly shrugged her shoulders,

“We should probably check, but from the last thing I heard from my old boss, I’d like to say it is.”

You started to walk forward, shining her light down the hall. She began to tap her hand against the wall, seeing if anything was out there. Usually once the infected heard any noise they would let out a groan or even a scream of some kind before attacking.

Riko followed behind, helping You by quickly opening doors that were left unlocked to see that they were clear as well.

“What exactly did your boss say, You?”

You kept her eyes ahead as she double checked every sketchy looking shadow,

“Apparently she lived here for a little bit after they began clearing out the animals and things started getting really bad. I’d say she spent about a month here alone before she decided to get out while resources were still around. That’s why she passed by the apartment a few weeks ago. She gave me the key to this place, saying if I ever needed a place to go that it was mine.”

Riko hummed as she followed along. She recalled the women being in such a hurry to get out when she paid them a short visit. At the time Riko and You thought things were safe, and that the government would have everything under control after a while. That proved to be wrong when it took only two weeks before they were running out of food around every corner and not a single soul could be seen walking the streets.

“Where did she go?”

“Up North, apparently she had family up there and she was going to wait until everything blew over with them. Luckily though she said she couldn’t take everything with her so she left some supplies here for us.”

As You explained her story, she felt herself stop at the start of the exhibits hall. She could remember spending so many hours entertaining children in her mascot suit, dying on the inside every day from the heat but it always felt so nice to give a smiling child a balloon.

You walked up towards one of the glass windows, looking into the now empty area. It still had the rocks in which the animals would sunbathe, and even the glass roof to let the light shine through. Riko noticed You’s silence as she followed right next to her. She looked down at what animal used to be in the home before smirking,

“Missing your old brothers and sisters, I see.”

You shot Riko a confused look for a moment before seeing her pointing at the information stand right by her. In large font it read across it, ‘Walrus Exhibit’.

You rolled her eyes jokingly as she laughed out at Riko’s teasing.

Riko giggled along as she followed behind You. She didn’t want You to think about the possible fate of any of the animals, it would only sadden her. Any little thing Riko could do to bring a smile, she’d definitely try.

The duo continued on down the halls, making noise every so often while they checked anything they could.

They had begun to reach the backrooms of the building. With only a few spaces left to check, the two were getting excited with their luck.

Each door Riko opened usually led to a janitor closet of some kind, so as she opened another silver handle she didn’t expect to make such an amazing discovery. As Riko caught sight of it, she gasped out loud, gathering the attention of You. Rushing behind, You shined her light towards Riko,

“What is it?”

Riko’s hands went into the closet, taking a hold of it before turning around, showing her hidden treasure to You. The curiosity from You’s face dropped instantly as Riko’s joy shot through the roof. In Riko’s hands was You’s old Uchicchi costume from when she was a teenager, still in good condition too.

Riko brought it to her chest, hugging it lovingly,

“You have to put this on for old time’s sake! Please?”

You blushed at the idea of trying to fit into that costume again. She had definitely grown taller, meaning the outfit would look entirely too awkward on her. Plus, the utter shame she had when she squeaked everywhere she went was something she could never live down.

Turning around so Riko wouldn’t see how red You was, You crossed her arms as she continued on down the hall,

“Sorry, but you couldn’t catch me wearing that thing again in my life, Riko. Now come on, we have to see if my old boss left any gas in her generator. Maybe we can get some lights in here by tonight, if we’re lucky.”

Riko laughed at how quickly You wanted to escape the situation. Placing the costume back in the closet, Riko ran her hand over the thin hair on it,

“Don’t worry, Uchicchi, I’ll get You into you again. For now though, be patient.”

Closing the door, Riko smiled at the mental image of their youthful days before hearing You further down the hall,

“Riko, I found the generator!”

Walking down the hall, the young girl walked towards You’s voice. Finally some things were turning around for them, in just the perfect time too. They had maybe a week of resources left at their apartment in the city, maybe less with the criminals ransacking every store around them. With the aquarium though, it was located more on the outer parts of the city where there was still plenty to be discovered.

Though they hadn’t explored much, Riko already couldn’t wait to get freshly settled into their new home, and more importantly towards her own personal project she had been working on since the beginning of this all.

She knew You would be more than happy to make a trip as soon as possible to gather her more supplies, but for now Riko just wanted to relax and really enjoy her time with You.

* * *

Riko’s eyes felt heavy. They begged to let her body to sleep for just a few more minutes… or hours. That wasn’t the case though as slowly she was becoming more aware of her surroundings. She could feel herself laying on the bed, scratchy fabric tickled her cheek, with You right beside her. She was laid on her chest, hearing her soft breathing.

There was no say in whether she was dreaming or not, as she hadn’t felt so peaceful in so long. That was until she felt something. Soft fingers massaged her scalp, almost lulling her back into her dreams of memories.

Riko’s fingers that laid upon You stiffened before she began rapidly blinking to rip the tiredness from her eyes. She had to know it wasn’t a dream. There’s no possible way she could imagine You’s fingers with such detail against her skin. What confirmed it though was the raspy voice, struggling hard to push out every syllable from her chest,

“G-Goo...d Mo-Mo...rn… Hmm. M-Mor...ng”

You took a deep sigh though, agitated her words weren’t coming out properly. Her fingers kept at Riko’s hair, practicing her words to say when her love would wake up.

You didn’t ever imagine she would be in the spot she was now, not after the best last thing she could recall was Riko crying in front of her at the hospital and the salt of her tears against her lips. Yet, when the room stopped spinning, all she could see was red hair splattered all across her chest. When everything started to piece together, all You wanted to do was speak, yet her mind and mouth didn’t seem to want to cooperate. Mumble after mumble struggled to come out, leaving her in her mind once more.

Riko didn’t say anything as she heard You’s practice, instead she kept as still as she could. Her eyes were wide open, feeling her tears beginning to slide down her face. Every noise that came from You didn’t seem real.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Riko shakily let out,

“You, is that really you?”

You’s hand stiffened in shock of Riko being awake. For how long, she wondered.

The reality of the situation didn’t take long to hit. This would be the first time she could speak properly, even think, without having so many things going on inside, and yet she struggled with every word.

“Y-Yes.”

You tightly closed her eyes, almost as if those simple words had hurt her.

All she wanted was to talk with Riko again, she had been trapped inside her mind for so long, screaming at herself to say something, anything. Now, when she needed communication the most, it just died at the tip of her tongue.

Riko, however, slowly got up from You’s chest. She hadn’t turned yet to see her, a part of her was afraid. What if it was all a lie? There was no way she, Riko; the girl who couldn’t do anything right for her love, had saved her.

Yet, when her head steadily turned to see You, she was really there. Though her skin was pale, and she looked about a few minutes from passing out, she was there. That light smile she’d give when she was embarrassed never looked so perfect. The blue in her eyes never shone so brightly. Even her wavy hair that frizzed out intensely during summer days had its bounce back.

All in all, Riko had her You back.

Riko broke into a smile. Her giggles escaped her lips and not even a moment later it turned into laughter. She couldn’t control her tears from falling faster than before. Every emotion she had suddenly felt the need to surface in that moment.

You laughed alongside her, with her own set of tears falling as well.

You pushed herself up from the bed, feeling like she had just run several marathons. She shook as her arms tried to lift her. Riko grabbed at her body, helping her stand up fully as she rested her back against the wall.

Though it pained her, You still smiled at Riko with every heavy pant of struggle she let out.

Riko’s hands moved up from You’s body, patting all over her face, really seeing if she were actually real in that moment.

Though she was going so fast in her frenzy of disbelief, You placed her hands over Riko’s as they stared at one another. Golden sun locked with oceanic blue, for the first time in a long time. Riko tearily let out,

“I… I did it, You. I really did it.”

Riko started to sob, shaking uncontrollably. She placed her head onto You’s chest, covering her tear streamed face. She just wanted to say those words for so long.

You took a breath, slightly coughing, before whispering at her highest volume,

“I-I kn-knew… you... c-c-could.”

Sniffling while trying to rub her tears away from her vision, Riko couldn’t stop smiling.

It had been the hardest month of her life. Everyday not knowing if they were on the winning or losing side of the virus. No struggle she had faced could ever compare, not when she was just a hair from losing the love of her life.

You too couldn’t describe the immeasurable pain she had been in. It had felt like a lifetime of just being trapped. No way to say what she felt, nor even be able to act upon half of her actions. She had to rely on her own instincts to do what was right when she couldn’t see the light.

The process had been slow in waking up, she could still see little moments of life in between what she believed was dreams. She remembered the rocks in the exhibit, the anger in her screams when she’d pound at the walls, even seeing Riko sleeping at her desk with her hair splattered across her face. But one thing that especially stayed with You was the change in Riko’s voice when she’d speak to her.

When You couldn’t remember the entire day, feeling herself slowly slipping, it was like she was lulled back every night with that soft voice again.

What started as mumbled slowly turned into words that soon changed to You wanting to finally speak back. It all slowly chipped away at the strange world she rested in.

Now that she was finally awake, all You wanted to do was talk like she had been trying to before. She wanted to say everything she had felt, everything she was screaming in her head every night.

Yes, she remembered the night they went to get supplies. Yes, she remembered the day they moved into their apartment, the promise of them wanting to start a family, and especially giving Riko the pocket knife on her birthday.

Yet, her voice continued to fail her. For now though, her simple actions would have to do.

You softly slipped her hands from Riko’s grasp, instead slowly wrapping them around her waist as she embraced her lover just like it was the first time again.

You gritted her teeth in the pain of not being able to speak, but Riko understood what she was trying to say.

Riko wrapped her arm around You’s shoulders, being sure to stay above her wound, before trying to catch her breath between her sobs.

Riko moved herself more backwards, letting You rest her weak body onto her as they held tightly onto one another. The action was simple but You felt so vulnerable. Never had she had to physically rely on Riko, as she thought it would be too much for her. Now though, after everything she had done to bring her back she could see how much Riko grew, and that she couldn’t be more proud of.

In between the sniffles that escaped both of them, Riko whispered the words replaying in each of their minds since the start of it all,

“I’ve missed you, so much.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my story! Also, thank you to my buddy @DarkyVA for always looking over my chapters. Don’t be scared to leave a comment! Anyways, as always, Yousoro and out (๑>◡╹)ゞ


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